One by One
by MinstrelBoy
Summary: Kagome springs a halfdemon named InuYasha from prison on the condition he swears to protect her. When the jewel is shattered and the task of collecting the shards falls on the two youths, how seriously will InuYasha take his promise to her?
1. A long way from home

Okay, this is based on a fan fic I did called "The Awsomely Metal IY Biker Story." how ever, AMBS was poorly thought out and I more or less made shit up as I went along and I'm generally disatisfied with it as a whole. So with some experiance under my belt, I'm gonna start again.

NOTES: This takes place current day. Demons exist but arn't as big a problem. They generally avoid major cities, but there are alot of out laying towns in the boonies where they are just as big a problem as in the show. Demons and half demons have all the hightened senses and physcial poweress of the show, but have to use weapons like the rest of us, even if the weapons do fancy power shit.

InuYasha rushed head long at the guards, leaping high over head. He smiled as he whistled through the air down at them. He flicked his wrist and a switchblade flew out of his jacket sleeve. He flipped it open as he came down.

As he landed he swung his arm out and the knife dipped into the rubbery substance of the first guards neck. Before the dead man hit the ground InuYasha covered the distance to the next one and jammed the blade into his gut.

Busting down the gate with his shoulder, InuYasha saw there was no one in his way. He leapt up and crashed through the roof of the building in front of him. And there was the jewel. Perfect. He grabbed it and leapt back out the same hole.

By now the humans had realized what had happened and bullets began to wizz past him. No matter. At the speed he was going no human could hit him. The buildings fell away to woods. Home free. All he had to do was make it to the forest-

'Fuck.' Over the small arms fire InuYasha picked out the sound of a familar rifle's safety being switched off. 'Please let me be wrong on that! Please say I fucking misheard!' He looked over his shoulder. A raven haired woman was aiming a rifle at him. 'Fuck. I hate being right.'

He heard the gun shot, listened to the sound of the bullet cutting the air. It was too late to move. 

The bullet tore through his chest right above his heart, slamming his body into a tree, the jewel flying out of his hand. 'No dammit!' he slid down the tree and hit the ground. The world dimmed as his life began to fade away. Before he scrumbled into darkness, InuYasha managed to speak. "Kikyo.. why?"

Kagome rubbed her eyes as she made her way downstairs. There was still a half hour before school. 'They should really give us our birthdays off' She thought miserbly. It was a muggy early summer day so he was wearing a T-shirt and skirt to school that day.

As she passed the door she checked the mail box. 'Bill.. bill... bill... death threat.. pipe bomb.. bah, nothing but bills.' she thought trying to liven up the chore.

After breakfast Kagome picked up her back pack and headed for the door. "MA! I'm going!" she called over her shoulder. "Be careful dear!" "Don't worry, they don't come this far into the city!" 'That's mom, always worrying.'

As she opened the door, she noticed something taped on to it. It was a 'missed delivery of a valuable package' notice. 'I'll pick it up on the way, I'm a little early anyway.'

She took the paper and went on her way. The route to the post office took her through a wooded area. She watched the forest around her house as she went. She knew there wouldn't be any demons here, not this close to the city, or here of all places. 'They're out in the country. And they rarely attack human homes. Well, the real big ones do, but Cmon, someone would see it with so many people around and call the army or something.'

She was lucky enough to live in a city, where you were more likely to get robbed than eaten. She had never even SEEN a live demon. So what did she have to worry about? 

She looked to the skies. It was going to rain later. Hopefully she would be home by then.. 'if not, maybe I can get a ride from Eri or Ayume or somebody. They have cell phones.'

The post office came into view and Kagome walked in. "Hi, I'm here to pick up a package." She told the man behind the counter. "Name?" "Higurashi." "Right, got it right here." The man reached under the counter and put a small box about the size of Kagome's fist on the table. 'That doesn't look too important' Kagome thought, signing the form he gave her.

Kagome headed out through the woods. She was almost out on the street when she heard a rustling in the woods. 'What was that? It couldn't be a demon, there are no demons this close..' she reassured her self. The rustling continued, louder this time. 'It's comingright for me! Oh man, it's a demon!'

Kagome bolted toward the road. She almost made it when something slammed into her. Hard. Rough hands grabbed her and spun her around. She wasn't touching the ground anymore, but a feeling told her it was actually BEHIND her.

She stared into her attacker's face. It was a woman's face. Except it had fangs and the body of a insect. 'Oh Jesus, it's a demon.' The thing's mouth opened. "I know you have it.." it rasped. "Where is the jewel?" 'Jewel? What the hell?'

It opened its mouth further and its tongue came out. 'What the hell is it going to do! I got to do something!' Kagome did the only thing she could. She yelled "BACK OFF" and slammed her palm into its body.

A bright pink light filtered out from the demon's body through her fingers. The light exploded outward, blinding Kagome.

Kagome was awoken by rain hitting her face. She wearily pushed her self up. 'Where I am I? It's a forest... where's the road, and where's that demon?' She wondered looking around. She couldn't see the road. 'Well I'm sure I'm only a few yards away, I'll find it.'

She didn't find THE road, but she did find A road. Well not really a road, more like a dirt path. Where ever it goes, it has to lead to people. After several minutes, she came on a group of houses in the middle of the forest. 'Well, better than a forest.' By now it was drizzling, and she headed for the first public building she saw.

Inside, an old woman with an eye patch greeted her. "May I help ye child?" She asked kindly. Kagome related the story to her. When she finished the old woman looked at her skeptically. "And do ye still have the package with ye?" "Yes, right here." Kagome said, handing it over.

The old woman opened the package. When she opened the box inside, she gasped. She reached in and pulled out a small round jewel. The old woman fixed Kagome with a stare. "Follow me child."

The old woman led her farther into the building. At last they came to what looked like a small jail. The old woman stood behind a desk and placed the jewel on the desk. 

Kagome stood next to one of the cell doors. As she was standing, a hand slipped through one of the bars and brushed against something fuzzy. "Now then child, do ye know what this is?" Kagome shook her head. Idly she moved her hand around trying to find what ever she had brushed against. There it was. Felt like a dog. She shot a quick glance at it and saw some silver hair and a pair of ears. 'Yepp, it's a dog.' She moved her hand over and tweaked its ear.

The old woman stared at her. "What?" Kagome asked innocently. The dog cleared it throat. 'Wait, what?' Kagome looked at the dog.

She recoiled in shock. The 'dog' was actully a silver haired boy in jeans, a leather jacket and boots leaning agaist the cell door. With yellow eyes and dog ears. And he was staring at her angrily. Very angrily. He snorted and turned his attention back to the wall.

"Don't mind InuYasha, he is always this surly." "Is he.." "Nay, he is only a half demon. Now, to the task at hand. This is the Shikon no Tama, and it can increase the power of a demon ten fold.."

InuYasha tried not to smile to himself. 'All this time, and the sacred jewel manages to find it's way back to me.' he chuckled silently. 'Now, to get that girl away from the old bitch. She's young, frightened and most likely from the city. All I gotta do is convince her to get with in arms reach, stick an arm through the bars and around her scrawny neck..' he chuckled to him self again.

The old hag finished her little speech and they were about to leave the room when a man rushed in. "Lady Kaede! A demon is attacking! Most of the men are returning fire, but it isn't doing much good!" he panted. "Kagome, stay here and don't venture out or let anything get the jewel." Kaede yelled and rushed out of the room.

'Well well well.. when opportunity knocks..' InuYasha waited for the girl to pick up the jewel. Instead she went to the window and watched the fight out side. 'Damn it.. okay new plan.'

Kagome stared out the window as the demon destroyed homes. The people were shooting at it, but it didn't seem to help.. 'Jesus Christ, where am I, what am I doing here?'

"Ya know, there is an easy way to end all this.." she heard InuYasha begin behind her, his voice marking him as a southern boy.. demon. "What do you mean?" "I mean, let me out, and I'll kill that thing, and no one else has to die." "You're sure you can kill it?" "Of course." "But why are you in jail?" "What?" "I mean, I can't let you loose if you're gonna murder someone." 'JESUS! She HAD to think of that NOW!' "Listen, I won't hurt you, I just don't want to be stuck in this cell if the demon gets in here, 'sides, if it does get in her I'm the only one who could help you." "You promise you'll protect me?" "Yes, I swear I'll protect you!" InuYasha said irratibly.

Satisfied, Kagome headed for the keys. When she turned her back InuYasha smiled. 'Too easy' As she was reaching for the keys the whole room shook as the demon crashed through the wall. Pieces of rubble went flying everywhere and the room was filled with dust as the roof opened up to let the rain pour down.

"FUCK!" InuYasha yelled jumping back as part of the demon crashed through the bars. The jail was open. InuYasha couldn't help but laugh as he dashed out, flicking his wrist to bring his switch blade out of his jacket sleeve. The demon, some kinda centipede, was searching around, looking for the jewel. 'Don't matter, he won't have time to reach it.' InuYasha thought jumping for the thing's head. 

He slashed the balde along it's neck and it screamed in rage. It wouldn't die as easy as those humans. InuYasha concentrated as he brought the blade back for the next strike, a yellow light surrounded it, and swung it forward so fast it left a yellow streak in the air.

Kagome stared in awe at what InuYasha did to that thing. It happened faster than she could see. There was just a flash of yellow light, then pieces of demon were raining down.

From where she was knocked down by the demon crashing through, Kagome was only an arm's reach away from the jewel. She grabbed it and pushed her self to her feet.

InuYasha turned to her, with a smile on his face Kagome didn't like at all. He twirled the knife in his fingers. "InuYasha.." "Give me the jewel, or I'll do that to you."

-END-

Enjoy, review, comment, criticize. 


	2. The Jewel Shatters

InuYasha slowly advanced on Kagome, switch blade in hand. "C'mon, little human like you can't use it, might as well give it to some one who can." The rain was coming down harder. Kagome slowly backed up. "You don't have to make this hard on your self, just hand it over and you can go home." A flash of lightning illuminated the smile on his face.

Her foot landed on a piece of rubble which gave way beneath her. The next thing she saw was the sky, a yellow line arching where her neck was only a split second before. 'Oh Christ, he'll do it too.' She thought, scrambling to her feet.

She turned to face the half demon. "Lucky girl. That ain't happening again." He advanced again. Kagome looked around for a way to escape. Nothing. If she ran, he would catch her in an instant. 'Oh shit, this is it..'

Several violet spheres of light came flying in from no where. They formed a chain loosely around InuYasha's neck. The light died away to reveal a small black necklace, almost a Rosary. 

"What the hell?" InuYasha twisted his head toward Kaede. "Child! Ye must speak the subduing word!" "OLD WOMAN!" He roared, rushing at the assembled men.

He slammed into one of them with his shoulder, sending him flying. He kicked another one soundly in the chest, feeling the ribs crack under his foot. 'One left.' InuYasha smashed his elbow into his head, knocking him over. 

When no one was left standing, he faced the old woman. "What the hell is this?" He demanded. Before she could say anything, he smelt that girl's scent getting farther away. 'She won't get far.'

Kagome ran into the forest. 'Oh man, what am I gonna do? I gotta get farther into the forest, where he can't find me, oh man.' Behind her the air was silently displaced. For a brief second she heard the rain patter on something above and behind her.

A river came into view. InuYasha landed directly in front of her. She slammed to a halt. "Girl, you are really pissing me off." He growled. 'Subduing word, Subduing word, what is it? Cmon Kagome think!' InuYasha continued to advance. Another flash of lighting illuminated his yellow eyes. 'Yellow eyes, dog ears..' "SIT!"

The necklace glowed. InuYasha had time to ask "What the fuck?" aloud before he slammed into the ground.

Kagome couldn't help but laugh. All this time she had been afraid of him, and he was knocked flat on his face becuase she told him to sit! If she had known it was THAT easy..

She turned and walked leisurely back to the town.

"So where exactly am I?" Kagome asked Kaede as the old woman prepared food. "Well, judging by what ye told me, I can't tell, I've never heard of a city that matches that description." "So you mean.. I'm lost?" "I'm afraid so child, until we can figure out how ye came here, it is best for ye to stay here."

"And what about you, InuYasha, why are you still here?" Kagome asked. The half demon was presently leaning against the wall behind her, tapping his foot irritably. He merely scowled. He had managed to hide the necklace under his jacket, but she knew it still worked.

"Oh don't mind him, he still plans on stealing the jewel, but with the rosary on, he is no threat." InuYasha grumbled angerly and reached in his jacket for a cigarette. As he tried to flick his lighter into use, Kagome coughed pointedly. InuYasha ignored her and managed to get it lit. 'Okay, he's not gonna take a hint.' Kagome thought. "InuYasha, please take that out side." "Fuck you." "Sit."

It still worked. Kagome smiled as he slammed into the ground. He pushed him self up. "Stop fucking doing that!" "Well, perhaps if you learn some manners I won't have to." "What? Fuck you ya-" "SIT!"

InuYasha pushed him self up wearily and staggered out the door, cursing her under his breath the whole time. "So what's his story?" She asked Kaede. "Oh don't mind him, he's been after the jewel for years. He stopped for a brief while a year or so ago, then managed to fatally wound the former guardian of the jewel. But before she died, she shot him, sending him into a coma untll a few days ago. When he awoke, we put him in that cell until we could figure out what to do with him."

'Wow, I knew that guy was bad news, but wow.' "The strange thing is, InuYasha never attacked a human until he attacked the guardian." "Huh"  
'Why would he suddenly change his mind? He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who has a change of heart easily.'

Outside, in the branches of a tree InuYasha tore furiously at the damned necklace. 'What the FUCK is this thing? God damn girl! Figures. I get with in five feet of the jewel and some girl that looks like Kikyo throws a fucking magic necklace on me.'

He took a break from his curses and sniffed the air. 'Odd, that girl's scent is moving away from the village.. and she's alone.' InuYasha grinned wickedly. 'You trust that little trick of yours too much girl, it doesn't work if you never know I'm there.'

He stuck to the tree tops, leaping from branch to branch silently after her scent, always careful to remain a safe distance behind until she stopped. After five minutes of walking she slowed down. InuYasha found a small cliff over looking the area the scent stopped and crawled up to the edge.

It was a lake, there was the girl, and she was...

'Holy crap.' She was going for a swim... he was a small distance off, but with his eyes... 'Holy crap.' She strode toward the shore, dipping a toe and shivering before wading in. 'Ho. Lee. Fuck.' She dived gracefully under.

'JEWEL RETARD! THE FUCKING JEWEL!' His mind screamed at him. 'Huh? Yeah right, jewel. Let's see, she sure as hell doesn't have it on her. Or anything else for that matter... so they would have to be in a pocket in her clothes, which were on the shore. And not on her body. All I have to do is leap in, grab her clothes when she's underwater, disappear and find it else wheres.' InuYasha rose to one knee and prepared to make his move.

Kagome came back up. InuYasha's eyes flashed immediately to the movement. 'Wait for her to go back under, pay attention to her, gotta wait on her movements... What is she staring at?'

"SIT!"

By the time InuYasha had managed to recover, Kagome was dressed and heading back home. Wisely, he decided not to follow her. Instead, he found a tree to nurse his brusied pride in and just kept track of her by scent, lest she disappear with his jewel.

Kagome stalked through the woods towards the village. 'How dare he! Not only is he rude, immature, and violent, he's also a pervert!' But she did manage to learn how powerful a 'sit' could really be. And that it works several times if she says it several times. 'And, I have a feeling, that will be very handy later on.'

Farther up ahead on the road, a group of men was coming toward her. When they were ten feet away, they stopped. They all had rifles slung on their backs. 'Well people are weird out in the boonies. Lots of demons around, so I guess you need guns.' "Are from the village?" She called out. The man in the lead smiled.

InuYasha was drifting off to sleep when something woke him. He sniffed the air. No demons.. there was the girl, but she was moving farther away. And fast. Too fast.

InuYasha got up, stretched, then set off after the jewel.

Kagome was thrown roughly into a small house by her kidnappers. "What are you doing?" she cried angrily. The men merely chuckled. "OH man, this is not good.' She heard movement behind her and turned around. A huge man, at least seven feet tall, with pale skin and dead eyes was raising him self up from a chair.

'Oh crap. How can I get out of this? I sure can't fight my way out..' The man opened his mouth. "Jewel.. give up the jewel." "No way!" 'Why am I resisting, he's five times my size!' Kagome thought in panic. The words had come out of their own free will.

"Don't worry boss, we'll get it from her." One of the men spoke up. The whole group formed a circle around Kagome. 'Oh shit, oh shit..'

The big guy slammed his arm into the guy in his way, sending him flying until he slammed against the wall and was still. The men turned to their leader in shock. Kagome stared at the man he had just clobbered. 'Jesus Christ.. if he did that to me..'

"What the fuck boss?" Some one yelled. The giant merely slammed his arm into the speaker, sending him slamming into the door frame. A beam from the roof collapsed, blocking the door. 'Oh shit, he's killing his own men, and I have no way to escape.'

The giant started swinging his fists at his own men, who desperately tried to get away. In the onslaught Kagome dashed away and found her back against the wall as the battle raged on. Men were flung about like rag dolls. One hit the wall not five feet from her with enough force to shake the wall.

The men tried valiantly, but had no chance. The giant emerged victorious. His battle done, he turned slowly toward Kagome. 'Oh crap, think Kagome, THINK! Jewel, he's after the jewel, get rid of the jewel!' 

She reached in her pocket and pulled out the jewel. As she leaned back and tossed it through the door, she felt more than heard something coming through the air towards the house.

The wall next to her exploded out wards, knocking her off her feet. Dust swirled around her. When she looked up, InuYasha was standing in the hole he had made through the wall, switch blade in hand.

He didn't need to guess what had happened when he saw the guard out side and heard the fight inside. Now all that remained was the huge mother fucker. For some reason, all the men were laid low. Well that turn of events saved him about thirty seconds.

He leapt at the giant, planting his feet on his chest and severing his jugular with the knife. He pushed off, spinning the giant around. He landed in front of the girl and waited for the giant to topple over. Instead, he stood his ground.

InuYasha scowled. 'What the hell, I could smell it a mile away if something this big and ugly was a demon..' The giant turned and faced them. InuYasha stared at the gash along his throat, no blood came out. He looked into its glazed over eyes in its too pale face.

"I get it now." InuYasha said aloud. "Get what?" instead of answering, her InuYasha rushed forward, nimbly avoiding the clumsy swing directed at him, and slashed open the giant's shirt.

"I knew it." There was a gaping hole where his heart should be. The girl covered her mouth in shock. 'Heh, damned city girl. Never even seen a man's insides before?' 

InuYasha flicked the switch blade closed, and with a slight flick of the wrist it disappeared back into his jacket sleeve. With out hurry he ran up to the giant and punched through the hole, driving out a large black bird. He side stepped the falling giant effortlessly. He watched the bird fly, though the door frame but made no move to stop it.

"What.. what the hell was that?" "Kind of vulture, makes a home in dead men's chests to reanimate them. Not a threat, but nasty sons of bitches." InuYasha replied smugly. 'A little bird scare you that much girl? Well then, it may be easier than I thought to get the jewel.'

"You still have the jewel right?" "Er.. well.." Kagome started innocently. "RIGHT?" "I.. kinda threw it out the door.." "WHAT?" InuYasha yelled, rushing for the door.

He smashed through the broken beam and searched frantically for the jewel. Too late. He saw the pink object in the vultures beak a split second before it swallowed the jewel whole.

Before his eyes the bird changed, from a simple black crow to a horrible winged creature with a beak sharp as a razor. With out a second glance, it flew in to the air and took off.

"Mother.. fucker.." 'So close.. I had been so close. Now I have no idea where it's headed. I'm going to kill that girl, sit or no sit.' The girl scrambled through the door behind him. InuYasha flexed his wrist. "InuYasha! It's heading for the town!" "What? How the hell do you know?" "I don't know, I just know! Now come on, we have to catch it!" "We?" "I'm the only one that knows where it's going!" 'Damn it, she's got a point..'

InuYasha dashed quickly back into the room, and came back out with a pistol. He gave it to Kagome, before she could ask why, InuYasha grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her toward him, turning around so she slammed into his back. He leaned forward and grabbed her legs.

"What the hell?" Kagome commanded indignantly. "You plan on catching it your self girl? Just hold on!" InuYasha replied, rushing off towards the town at break neck speed.

Kagome tried not to scream as the world rushed under her. Her stomach lurched as he jumped nearly straight up and landed impossibly on a tree branch at the top. Amazingly, he continued, managing to land on a branch that could support their weight each time.

There was a brief moment of weightlessness as he glided through the air, then her stomach would drop out as he plummeted to the ground, only to slam back into her body as he pushed off, starting it all over again.

"There!" InuYasha yelled as the bird came into sight. "I'm gonna get right under it! You have to shoot it!" "What? I can't shoot!" "LEARN!" He yelled, leaping on to a line of trees under the bird.

'Oh shit, I can't shoot, I've never held a gun before, what am I supposed to do?' "SHOOT GODAMN IT!" Kagome desperately tried to figure out how to do this. She finally decided on resting her hand on the most stable thing she could find, which in this case was InuYasha's back.

She noticed three posts on top of the pistol and tried lining them up. No good, he was moving too much. She pointed the gun at the bird and squeezed the trigger with her eyes closed..

The report shook her body and she nearly dropped the gun in surprise. The pistol kicked back in her hand in a split second. "Shit!" She screamed in a way that InuYasha could only describe as wholly girl-ish.

The bird flew on, unconcerned with the girl shooting at it. Kagome again pointed the gun at it. Again sheflinched and closed her eyes, and she pulled the trigger. Again she missed.

The village was coming into view. Kagome again brought her arm in line with the demon. Again she began to pull the trigger. But InuYasha ran out of trees to land on, and instead of being pushed against him like she expected, she was plummeting through the air and her stomach was in her throat. She was too surprised to flinch as the gun went off.

InuYasha landed on the dirt and stared up at the demon. The whole sky had darkened, and a pink light emanated from the bird, filling the sky. 'She did it, the girl actually did it.'

Then the light shattered into pieces, flying in every direction at incredible speed. There had to be at least thirty of them. One flew straight down and embedded itself five feet in front of them.

Kagome slid off his back and dropped the gun before heading for the spot where it landed. As she searched for it, InuYasha's ears picked up her muttering under her breath "That better not of been what I think it was.." "And what do you think it is?" Kagome stared at something in her hand, then turned around to show him.

It was a small fragment of the Jewel.

"Son of a BITCH!" 


	3. A plan, a quest, and a problem

Kagome settled down for bed in the small apartment Kaede had provided. Surprisingly, the old woman wasn't angered by the destruction of the jewel, her fragment of which was in a bottle on the nightstand. She had merely told her to get some rest while she thought about what to do next. 'Such a nice old lady.'

InuYasha on the other hand.. 'Hoo boy, where to start with InuYasha.' When he had realized what had happened.. Kagome took one look at his face, said 'sit' and walked away. Not that she feared he would hurt her, but he was bad enough company as it was. No need to deal with him.

'Now, the real question is, how do I get home? No one has a map, I've never heard of this town, they've never heard of mine.. Jesus, how did I get here..' Kagome rolled over and tried to sleep.

InuYasha leaned against the trunk of the tree and slowly exhaled, letting the smoke drift out of his lungs. 'Figures. Just figures. So close. I managed to pull off that stupid plan with the girl on my back. And she breaks it.' He wasn't mad anymore. He had resigned him self to his fate. 'Bam, just like that. Bam, and no more jewel.' He sighed. 'Damn that pain in the ass girl.' He cursed her one last time, and drifted off to sleep.

Kagome woke up the next day and walked down stairs before sixing a quick breakfast for her self. When she finished, she set off across town to find the old woman.

She entered the building she had met Kaede and Inuyasha in, and found Kaede over seeing repairs to the building where the demon had crashed through. The old woman led her away from the construction to a place where they could talk.

When they got there, Kagome realized she didn't really know what to say. She had been expecting the old woman to tell her what was going on. "Well.. um.. what are we going to do about the jewel?" She asked timidly.

"Well child, I have an idea, but first I suggest ye get InuYasha. He should be here for this." "If you say so.." Kagome relented. 'Why do I need THAT asshole?' "Oh and one more thing" "Yes?" "Try not to anger him too much on the way here." Kagome didn't like the sound of that.

She walked out into town, looking for the half demon. It was a small town, with a few farms and houses. The people were going about their lives, but she could tell they recognized her.

She found the half demon in a tree, head slumped forward in a nap. "InuYasha?" she called out in way that she hoped wouldn't set him off. For a moment he didn't answer, then he tilted his head towards her. "Yea?" he drawled. "Kaede said she wanted to talk to us." "I don't wanna talk to that hag, find out what she wants then tell me." he said, lowering his head again and ignoring her.

Kagome took a deep breath and remembered what Kaede had told her. 'Try not to anger him.. what about him angering me? A sit would really piss him off, and he'd want to come along even less. Maybe if I threaten him.'

"InuYasha, Kaede wants to talk to us, and I suggest you come along." "Why should I?" "Because if you don't, I'll say 'it'. " InuYasha looked up suspiciously. "It?" He asked cautiously. "S-I-" "ARIGHT! ARIGHT! I'll come along." He said in panic, not wanting to find out if the spelling worked the same as the word.

InuYasha leaped from the branch and landed fully fifteen feet farther from the tree than he needed to. On landing, he threw his hands in his jacket pockets and hunched over. He ambled in no particular hurry toward the building. Kagome rolled her eyes and followed.

InuYasha pushed the doors open, and let them swing closed on Kagome. 'Don't.. make.. him.. angry' she thought trying not to 'sit' him through the floor.

Kagome saw InuYasha milling about with no clue where Kaede was. Kagome sighed silently and headed for the old woman, assuming InuYasha would be smart enough to follow her.

As she walked into the room where she had left Kaede, InuYasha wandered in behind her. Sensing that InuYasha was not about to say anything diplomatic, Kagome spoke first. "Okay, I brought him. Now what did you want to tell us?"

"Well.." The old woman began uncertainly. She looked at the two youths and repressed a smile. 'I've seen alot in my days, and I have a feeling about these two.' "The jewel has been shattered, and the multiple shards present more a danger than the actual jewel." She inhaled, 'this shall prove interesting.'

"Ye, both of ye, must collect the shards." "What?" As expected, InuYasha was not pleased. "Are you fucking drunk? The things aren't an inch big, how the fuck do you expect me to find 'em?" "Not you InuYasha, Kagome shall find the shards." "Why me?" she asked in suprise. "Because you broke it stupid!" "SIT!"

Kaede cleared her throat. "If you two are done.." Kagome turned her attention back to her and let the half demon push him self up. He opened his mouth, but thought better of making a comment. "Kagome, ye have the power to find the jewel, InuYasha, ye have the power to assure that no one of evil intent takes hold of the jewel." She said, looking at them in turn.

InuYasha seemed to be mulling this over in his head. "Aright, fine." He spat. "But gimme a while, I gotta take care of some shit." and with that he walked out the door.

"Are you sure about this Kaede?" Kagome asked. "Yea child, the shattered jewel is a great danger to all, and I'm afraid you and InuYasha are the ones best suited for the job."

'I have no way home.. maybe at least this way I'll find someone who will know how to get home. And the shards ARE a danger.' Kagome thought a week later as she walked through town. Up ahead she saw InuYasha's back walking in the same direction. 'Well.. I may be stuck with him a while, the least I can do is try and make friends with the guy.'

As she quickened her pace to catch up with him, she heard him mumble "Dammit! Where IS she?" "does he mean me?' She decided to brush it off. She came along side him. "InuYasha?" He turned to look at her in suprise that quickly faded into agitation. "You, listen, can you drive?" "Uhh no.." "Dammit!" He swore, turning his gaze back to the road. "Fucking useless girl!" "SIT!"

'I'm gonna be stuck with THAT?' 


	4. The hair demon, who BTW, is HAWT

A/N: Uni, if you read this, yes I shamelessly stole your idea. I'm sorry, but it was too cool not to. Don't be pissed at me.

It had been two weeks since Kaede had laid out her plan to recover the jewel. Kagome had seen InuYasha once or twice walking through town, but more often than not she caught sight of him in a tree, seemingly taking a nap or staring off into space.

She had asked once if he was ready to leave yet. "Not yet." he replied. "Goddamn nothin' in the classifieds." he added under his breath. Kagome didn't press the matter. She wasn't too anxious to start on their journey.

But, as the days wore on and Kagome had nothing to occupy her life with, the prospect of adventure and the unknown began to weigh in on her young mind. 'It won't be that bad. C'mon Kagome, you've always wanted to go on an adventure, see the boonies, save the world. You're not gonna get a chance to do that back home. This is once in a life time! Do you really wanna look back at this and wonder?'

'I wonder what else is out here in the boonies? Prolly a lot of towns like this one. And alot of forests. I wonder if we'll get to walk through the forest alot. I haven't done that in years. Man, the one out behind the house was so pretty.' She thought, idly strolling through town. By now the towns people had grown accustomed to her, and she had managed to learn a few of their names.

Bored, she wandered toward a hill over looking the forest about fifty yards out side of town. As she approached, she noticed InuYasha perched in a branch, staring out over the forest, cigarette between his lips. 

InuYasha smelt the girl coming towards him. He didn't turn to look. Whatever she wanted, she would call up to him soon enough. Instead, he heard her light foot steps walk up to the tree and stop.

He looked down at her in curiosity. She was just standing there, looking out over the forest. A breeze blew in, ruffling her hair a bit. InuYasha shook his head and came to his senses. He turned his gaze back to the forest.

Kagome over looked the scenery. There was the lake, the river that ran along side town, and a couple clearings. There was something moving in one. It was too far to tell if it was a shadow or not. It was just a black dot. 'InuYasha has better eyes than me, he can see it.'

"InuYasha?" "What?" he asked grumpily. "Out in that clearing over there." she pointed. "What is that?" Above her, the half demon turned his eyes on the spot she indicated. "Nothing." "Are you sure?" "Yes I'm sure. You're seein' things." He answered just as irritably. "If you say so.."

That night, Kagome was in bed, but something kept her from sleeping. There was a small feeling in her head that there was something out there. Something worth investigating. 'Damn this is bugging me.'

She got up to get something to drink. On the way back from the kitchen area, she happened to glance out a window at the hill. 'There. What ever it is, it's in that direction. Enough of this.' She thought putting on her shoes.

By now it was one or two AM. The town was practically deserted. No one was awake at this hour. Kagome's light footsteps produced almost no noise. The moon sent down a silvery light.

As she left town, she saw a lone figure sitting on a branch. InuYasha was still there, sitting with his back to the town, right leg hanging striaght down, left bent so it was below the branch from the knee down only. She noticed some movement. 'Wonder what he's doing?' as she approached. She heard something. When she stopped to listen, she realized what it was.

She was surprised to say the least. She hadn't pegged the irritable half demon like that.

InuYasha stopped for a moment to light a cigarette and stare out over the forest. He was up wind of the village so only the smell of the forest reached him. Strange though, he thought he smelled some flowers that weren't in bloom yet. 'Well who cares, I ain't complainin'.'

He moved his fingers back over the fret board. He placed his finger on the second fret, fourth string and began to pluck at the strings. '5-4-2' he placed his middle finger on the first fret, second string, hit it once, and dropped it before picking up the strings from two.

Kagome made it all the way under the tree before he started playing again. 'Wow, InuYasha plays guitar. I never really thought he had any talents like that.' She sat down on the hill underneath and behind him.

'Now then, what's out here?' she thought, remembering her purpose. 'It's still there.. and it's definitely closer now.' InuYasha began the first verse. Kagome looked up him briefly. He hadn't seemed to notice her. Not that he ever did until she called out to him.

The song was low and quick. There were no words, the guitar was alone. InuYasha slid his fingers down to the fifth and fourth frets, now picking down the strings. 'I've felt this before, but where?' Kagome thought.

InuYasha beagn the second verse. 'What ever it is, it's moving. Where have I felt this before?' Above her, InuYasha moved his hand over to the second and fourth frets and began the second chorus.

Kagome focused on the feeling and managed to pinpoit an exact point on the compass. She didn't know how far away it was, but she knew where it was. InuYasha switched back to the verse. It was louder now. Kagome looked up. His movements were more animated, and he still seemed unaware of her presence.

She followed the thing with her eyes as it moved through the forest. InuYasha moved back into the chorus. He was really getting into it. 'Where have I felt this before? THINK! It's not everyday I sense things in the forest.'

She kept following it. It was approaching one of the clearings. 'Cmon, cmon, go through the clearing an- THERE!' Something black shot through the clearing. 'Was that the same thing from before? But still what was it?' InuYasha began the final verse. 'The jewel! That's where I felt it! That thing had a shard!'

Time to announce her self. "InuYasha! Something in the forest has a shard!" He didn't acknowledge her. Intsead he gazed out over the forest as he began the end of the song. By now he was playing loudly and with alot of movement.

The final notes rang through the air. "Alright, we'll go searching for it in the morning." He said, not looking down at her. Only he managed to say it with out sounding angry or annoyed.

The next day, after informing Kaede of the situation, the two set off into the woods in the direction Kagome sensed the shard. Kagome walked behind the silent half demon. She hadn't mentioned the last night since, and neither had he.

As they walked, they both remained silent. After about half an hour Kagome began to notice a lot of spider webs in the area. InuYasha ignored them.

As they walked the webs grew thicker. A couple passed over the road. Kagome noticed that the webs seemed to shine in the light, and that they had no pattern, just strands everywhere.

One hung especially low over the road. It brushed over InuYasha's shoulder. The strand didn't break, but bent around him before snapping back into place.

He turned around to look at her. "What do you want?" "What do you mean?" Kagome asked in confusion. "You just tapped my shoulder, what do you want?" Kagome stared at him. "You can't see that?" "See what?" "The web on the road!" "Web?" "Yes! The webs that are all over the forest!" She exclaimed in confusion. InuYasha looked at her like she was insane.

She stalked over to the thread and took it between her hands. "This! Right here!" "What are you talking about?" Kagome noticed it didn't feel like a spider web. It was too thin, too smooth. 'Maybe he really can't see it.'

"Here, hold out your hand." InuYasha looked at her suspiciously but complied. Kagome, still holding the thread in both hands, pressed it against his palm. "There, can you feel that?" InuYasha looked at his palm in surprise. There was nothing there, but it felt like there was a string pressing against his palm. "What the fuck? Aright, I believe ya." "They get denser toward the shard." "Okay, then let's keep going, what ever it is, we'll find it."

They continued walking, and the strands continued to get more common. After fifteen more minutes the forest opened up into a clearing.

Kagome let out a gasp. The strands, they were.. hair? And there was a whole mountian of it! And there was a woman standing on top of it all! What the hell?

At the sound of the gasp two large tendrils of hair shot toward them. InuYasha's ears picked up the sound of something rushing toward them. Something he couldn't see. He flicked his wrist and opened the switch blade, swinging at the sound. He felt the blade slice through something thin, almost wire.

Behind him he heard Kagome shriek. He turned to look. The girl was.. floating? 'What the fuck?' She was brought toward the ground, only to be launched through the air, screaming. 'SHIT!'

InuYasha immedatly leaped after the suddenly air borne girl. 'Jesus, she's really flying!' he thought racing along the treetops. She had to be at least forty feet up. And if that fragile human body of hers hit the deck.. InuYasha redoubled his efforts.

InuYasha pushed himself faster. The girl's body turned slowly in air. She had stopped screaming. She stopped gaining altitude. For a brief second, even though she was still hurtling through the sky, she seemed to freeze in space as InuYasha leaped and was level with her. She turned and was looking straight at him, appearing to actually be standing in mid air. InuYasha stared at her and saw the look of absolute terror on her face. 'Faster dammit, run faster!'

She began to fall. He was close now, only a few feet behind her. She was only a few feet above the tree line, if she fell through and he lost track of her..

'Now!' a voice in his head screamed, and he leaped as fast as he could straight forward. The girl grew bigger in his view. Her back was towards him, and she was sideways fallin'. He saw the wind pushing her hair and skirt skywards. She was a little bit above him. If he timed this right..

He did. He knew he did a second before he collided with the girl. He caught her and hooked an arm under her knees so she wouldn't fall on landing.

He continued running along the trees, losing momentum. When he had slowed enough, he dropped down to the forest floor, and let the girl slide off him. She leaned against him for a moment while she recovered her footing.

"Holy.. crap.." she panted, taking several deep breaths. InuYasha looked around and scowled. "Dammit. We're a long way from town."

-END-

Remember, I can't hear you scream/laugh/curse my soul over the internet, leave a review.

taps bat in palm That wasn't no suggestion. 


	5. The first battle

The saga continues

By sense of smell alone InuYasha was able to find the way back to the town. By now it the sun was setting behind their backs, as the buildings came into view, InuYasha knew something was wrong.

He could smell vague traces of demon, and blood. Human blood. People were still moving. There was the crackling of a fire. InuYasha walked boldly into the center of town.

There were two groups of humans. Both camps were armed with guns and knives. A house was burning. In-between them a man lie face down, blood staining the soil. The scent of the demon was coming from one of the groups.

The other group turned at his arrival. "The half demon is here!" "What?" "Shit! He's all we need!" "Fuck! Split! We can't take him too!" The group ran off into the village. InuYasha spat in their direction.

The group smelling of demons turned slowly. Too slowly. InuYasha rushed into them. He slammed into the middle of the group, punching some one in the face hard enough to flip them over.

The whole group seemed to bend toward him. His feet landed on something that felt like the invisible spider web the girl had been ranting about. It snapped under his foot. He shifted his weight right, elbowing someone hard in the jaw. He kept feeling the spider webs snap where ever he moved.

A knife came at him. InuYasha grabbed the arm and drew the man forward, slamming his knee into it's gut. He let him drop as he dodged a swipe from something sharp. He kicked a knee cap in his vision, his ears could hear the bones cracking.

As he came up a face came into his vision, he swung his left out wards. Something in the melee passed in front of his eyes. He felt his hand come into contact with bone. He kicked blindly and the body that blocked his vision, and was rewarded with solid contact before the body flew limply into a nearby house.

He spun around in a quick 360, no body was close to him. They were all down. He straightened up. The bodies began to rise up in a circle around him. "What the hell!" He swore, as they floated above the ground. Some hang limply by one shoulder or arm, as if by a string. A leg dangled uselessly in air below where InuYasha had snapped it.

InuYasha flicked his wrist, bringing the switch blade into hand. He crouched and prepared to strike. "INUYASHA!" his head snapped toward the girl. "Now's not the time!" "Above their heads! There are wires above their heads!"

Some one whistled toward him. InuYasha spun and drove his elbow upwards into his jaw. Impossibly, he rose again. InuYasha shifted his stance slightly. His ankle pushed back something taught. He looked down at the empty space that had caused an indent in his jeans in a straight line. "Above their heads!" the girl called again.

InuYasha swung and felt the blade slice through something. The man dropped limp to the ground. InuYasha leapt at the first thing in his sight, slashing in an arc above his head. Someone charged him from behind. He spun cutting the same pattern to the same result. InuYasha smiled. It was over now.

He didn't wait for the last three to attack him. There was a flash of light and it was over. The switch went back into his sleeve. InuYasha sniffed the air. The demon was still out there, and he could track it.

"The hair, it's the same from the forest!" The girl exclaimed, running up to him. "Yeah, I know." InuYasha said walking over to one of the fallen humans. He fished around for a moment then returned to the girl, pressing a pistol into her hand. She looked at him in confusion. "It's still out there, and we're going after it."

InuYasha lifted her onto his back and set off into the forest after the scent. They had been traveling about five minutes above the tree tops when the girl spoke up. "InuYasha, why did those people run when you showed up?" 'What is this girl, stupid?' InuYasha thought to him self in shock. "Because I'm a half-demon." He said like he was explaining it to a small child. "But your one of the good guys.." 'What the fuck?' InuYasha wondered to him self. "Wrong. I'm a half-demon." He replied blandly.

Kagome noticed a large tendril of hair shadowing them on the ground. As she watched it slowly began to rise up towards them. "InuYasha! Below us!" "What?" It's cover blown it raced up at them. "Move!" she yelled, tugging on his right ear. InuYasha immediately drove right as the hair passed through the air. "WHAT THE FUCK?" He yelled in rage, but figured it out when he saw the effect of the hair crashing back to earth.  
'There's more hair! It's everywhere!' Kagome noted in fright. One rushed at them. "Left!" InuYasha split left. "Up!" Again InuYasha moved in time to save them from what ever fate awaits one hit by a large tendril of demon hair.

"Behind us! Left! Up again!" Kagome yelled as the hair became more frequent. InuYasha was jinking through out the sky. "Below us!" InuYasha launched him self high into the air. At the apex of the jump, Kagome spotted a ravine filled with the same mountain of hair they had encountered before. "InuYasha, head for that ravine!" She yelled over the whistling air and crashing hair. InuYasha sped off in that direction.

As they neared the ravine, the hair shied away. When finally the last of it was gone, InuYasha set down Kagome down on a bluff over looking the ravine. "Stay here and keep quiet girl." He instructed before leaping at the woman he saw he saw floating above the air. The whole area reeked of demon.

He flicked the switch open. At the sound he heard something whistling through the air at him.

Kagome watched the hair rush at InuYasha and surround him. It held his limbs steady while the woman jumped to a strand of hair in front of him.

InuYasha stared up at the demon in anger, pulling at the strands that held him in place. She smiled then spoke up. "So, you're the half demon with the pretty silver hair whose been ruining my plans." "Yeah? What of it?" InuYasha growled, trying to rip free. "Nothing much, but do try to hold still dear, I have to make this cut very precise." She said, pulling a dagger from her hip. InuYasha twisted his wrist around and felt the blade snag on something.

He sliced through the hair holding him in place as she leapt at him. He threw his weight to the side as she flew past him. As she passed InuYasha slashed her across the back.

She landed on another wire dumb founded as InuYasha cut him self free. He leapt at her as the hair rushed in on him. Again he was caught feet from his target. As he watched, the cut on her back healed before his eyes.

Kagome watched the hair capture InuYasha again and fly past the woman's back. 'I have to do something, InuYasha can't avoid the hair on his own.' She thought, moving to the edge of the bluff. It was about fifteen feet down, but sloped and she could slide down. She kept that option in mind as she looked at the pistol in her hand. She knew she couldn't shoot from this far with out endangering InuYasha. She stared at the fight, waiting for the next turn of events.

"Your making this hard on your self doggy." The demon taunted. InuYasha's fist tightened around the blade. "Go to hell!" He swore at her.  
"Now now, what kind of language is that?" She asked with a smirk raising the dagger.

InuYasha had again found the hair holding his wrist with the knife and cut him self free before the demon reached him. As she passed wide of him the blade glowed yellow and severed her arm. She howled in pain and InuYasha plummeted to the ground.

He the gravel in time to see the demon's arm reattach it's self. 'Fuck..' He swore to him self. The woman turned to him. "Well well, looks like the doggy has a little spirit. I may have a new pet." She smirked and closed the distance between them, fast. Too fast.

InuYasha was knocked on his back by the collision as the dagger drove into his shoulder, forcing him to drop the blade.

Kagome gasped. 'Oh shit, oh shit, I gotta do something!' She moved to the edge of the bluff and prepared to slide down.

InuYasha arm twitched in pain as she twisted the knife. He snarled at her. She jerked the knife clean of his arm and his left hand grasped the wound. She stood up arrogantly, and licked his blood off the blade. "Like blood do ya?" InuYasha smirked as he whipped his hand through the air, sending a stream of blood into her eyes.

She stumbled back blindly. InuYasha grabbed the knife and drove into into her chest. Her body went rigid. "Now now, doggies shouldn't be attacking their masters." She taunted, kicking him hard in the chest and sending him sprawling.

InuYasha rolled onto his feet in time to see the demon raise the dagger. The whole world seemed to freeze as he stared into her brown eyes. She smiled slightly in anticipation. 'Fuck.'

A gun shot cut through the air. The demons' heads snapped to the sound and saw Kagome standing in the open, pistol in her hand. "Back off! Or the next shot will-" Kagome was cut off as she stepped back to avoid a tangle of hair, tripping and falling back into a depression in the ground as the hair slammed down.

"Well now, wasn't that inconvientent?" the woman asked, turning back to InuYasha who had dragged him self to his feet. He wasn't concerned about Kagome. With out the hair to block his view he had seen her trip backwards. 'Sides, he couldn't smell her blood.

Kagome looked around the depression she had fallen into. The thing was filled with skulls! She shot to her feet and looked around for a way out. It was too far up for her to jump. Something hit her, the shard wasn't with the demon, it was in this hole!

She looked around, the depression rose up. She followed it up, looking for the shard. There was a small pile of skulls fifteen feet ahead of her, and above it, a single red skull. 'That's where the jewel is.'

The demon's's head snapped away from InuYasha. He followed her gaze. 'Dammit! Can't that girl keep her head down?' The demon jumped away from him, toward the girl.

The demon landed right in front of Kagome, sending pieces of skulls flying from out beneath her feet. Kagome fell back and stared up in fear. The demon smiled wickedly, a light shining in her eyes as she spun the dagger in and slowly advanced. "Now now girl, I'm trying to train my new pet, unless you want to join him, I need you to stop interfering."

The dagger was raised. Kagome's heart stopped. She closed her eyes. She heard something tear and a howl of pain. Something clattered to the ground.

She opened her eyes. The dagger was on the ground. Blood was running down the demon's arm from the wrist, where InuYasha's knife was protruding from just below her palm.

As soon as he had thrown the knife InuYasha sprinted toward the demon. He heard the hair split the air as in came towards him and jumped aside. Dust rushed up where the ground cracked under the weight.

He took one final leap and punched the demon, knocking her back. She skidded along the ground, InuYasha leapt at the form on the ground. She rolled away as he slammed into the earth only inches away, kicking him back as she flipped to her feet.

Kagome stumbled to her feet and ran to the red skull while the demon was distracted. The shard was imbedded in it's forehead. She tried desperately to pry it loose.

InuYasha blocked a right hook with his left hand and used his right to rip the knife from the demon's wrist. He jammed it hard into her gut. She howled in pain and kicked him hard in the stomach. the air was expelled from his lungs as he doubled over. Something came down hard on the back of his neck, knocking him down.

Kagome frantically tried to get a nail in between the shard and skull. It was in too tight. She tried one more time, her nail cracking.

InuYasha kicked the demons legs out from under her and flipped up. He breathed heavily, grasping the wound on his shoulder. The demon got up calmly. She wasn't even tired. She pulled the knife out of her stomach and held it behind her head, ready to strike.

Kagome's head snapped side to side, searching for the gun. She found it at the bottom of the depression and raced toward it.

The knife snapped at his head. He grabbed her wrist and pushed it away from him before his fist made contact with her head. She spun around from the blow, using the momentum from the blow to bring her heel up and into InuYasha's jaw.

Kagome tripped on a skull on her way up and pain shot through her arm. She looked up, the skull was close. She reached for the skull as she felt blood begin to pool on her inner arm. She pulled it close and placed the the gun against it's temple.

InuYasha stopped the knife and inch from his face. He tripped backwards, kicking the demon into the air with both feet as he fell. She landed on one of her hairs. It stretched like a bow string as she twisted to bring the knife back towards him.

A gun shot rang through the air. The demon's eyes widened in shock. InuYasha watched as she disinigrated into thin air. The knife dropped through the air, embedding it's self in the ground up to the hilt as her clothes floated down.

InuYasha wearily pushed him self to his feet. He smelt the air. 'Fuck, she's bleeding.' He thought turing towards the smell of human blood. She was on the ground. 'Fuck! Did I miss something?'

"Kagome! Okay over there?" He yelled. Kagome pushed her self to her feet uncertainly. "Yeah.. I'm fine.. just a little cut." She called back. InuYasha leapt over to her.

The first thing she noticed was the blood on his shoulder. "Oh God, are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine." InuYasha answered irritably, looking over the cut on her arm.

Kagome was about to mention something about InuYasha remembering her name, but was cut off when InuYasha spoke. "Got a tissue?" "Huh? Yeah, somewhere.." Kagome muttered searching in her pocket. "Here ya go." She said handing it over.

She was surprised to say the least when InuYasha grabbed her arm and wiped it clear of blood. "I don't want blood on my jacket." He offered, turning around and kneeling so she could climb on his back for the trip home.

-END-

Review or I'll fucking kill you, I'm tired of askin'. 


	6. InuYasha's Harely OF DOOOOOM!

Short one this time, but it gets the ball rolling.

It had been another week after the defeat of the hair demon. Kagome had wandered into the repaired building looking for Kaede. "Well child," the old woman began sitting down at a desk. "I have spoken with InuYasha. He says he is finally ready to begin. I suggest you find him."

Kagome walked out into town anxiously. 'So this is it.. I'm finally leaving.' She thought searching for the half demon. She found him situated in his tree, gazing out across the land, smoke between his lips. Not for the first or last time Kagome wondered what was on his mind.

'She's not here.' He thought sadly. 'She's moved on. I have to go, I have to follow her.' Confusion began to creep in. 'Why did she leave? The jewel wasn't here, she didn't have to guard it, she coulda been happy here.'

'Was it becuase of me? Did what ever I do to cuase her to attack me cuase her to leave to?'' He sighed. 'Does she still care?' his eyes became hard with determination. 'I'll find you.' He took a long drag and closed his eyes. Images of his past ran before his eyes. 'I'll find you.'

'The girl's here.' "InuYasha?" "What?" He asked with more displeasure that usual. "Kaede says your ready to leave." "Yeah yeah, go pack yer shit. I'll pick ya up in a while." he instructed with out opening his eyes.

'Way to go. Can't even rob a fucking teenage girl with out getting trapped in some damn quest with the same teenage girl.' He sighed again. 'One that looks like Kikyo too..'

Later that night, Kagome stood out in front the apartment that had been her home for the past month. The sun was getting ready to set and the wind blew strong enough to bend the branches of the trees. She readjusted the pack of food and medical supplies slung on her back.

She spotted InuYasha walking towards her, hunched over. "Ready?" He asked, not slowing. "Yeah, let's go." Kagome said cheerfully, he shot her a look and Kagome sensed he was in less of a talkative mood then normal.

InuYasha lead her toward the only paved road out of town, which sat off set from the town on top of a rise, connected by a several dirt roads. By now the sun was setting, deep red and gold filled the sky.

At the top of the raise Kagome noticed something out lined by the dying light. As she got closer it became apperant to her. It was a motorcycle. 'Well... beats the hell out of walkin'. And it has two seats.' she thought walking up the slope behind InuYasha.

She put the back pack on the rear seat between the arm rests as InuYasha climbed on. She unsteadly threw a leg over the bike and settled in on her seat. The sky was aflame, the tops of clouds a golden hue. InuYasha reached in his pocket for a cigarette. As he lit up he clsoed his eyes. When he opened them Kagome thought she cuaght something in his eyes. Something sad and lonely, the gold of his eyes mirroring the sky. But then it was gone.

She looked out over the scenery. The road ran to the horizon, forest on either side. The whole world reflected the red tint of the sunset. She looked to the horizon. 'We're starting. We're finally starting. And some one out there knows how I can get home to my family.'

InuYasha stared out at the same land scape. 'You're out there. I'll find you. Kikyo. What can I do, to get me to you?' He turned the key and the bike roared to life. The wind began to whip in his face as he set off the road, the small black dot of the bike gliding along the road until it was lost in the horizon.

Kagome found the ride suprisingly smooth, to the point where she didn't bother holding on to anything. She leaned agaist the pack, with no danger of falling off due to teh arm rests, she managed to doze off two hours after sun set.

-END-

For here on out this story will be update pretty spasmodically, for persoanl reasons keeping me from writing, lets just say the law was involved. 


	7. Day 1

When Kagome awoke, the world was bathed in a blue predawn light. The light mist hanging over the ground seemed to absorb all noise, even dulling the roar of the bike.

InuYasha didn't seem to realize she had awoken. For a moment, she didn't move and just enjoyed the stillness of the fine summer morn. 

Her mind slowly woke up and began to get curious. "InuYasha?" She asked in a way she hoped sounded friendly, the morning was too tranquil for an argument. "Yeah?" He replied gruffly, but unangrily. "Where are we headed?" "What?" "Where does this road lead?" "No where." "No where? Why build a road to nowhere?"

InuYasha sighed in antcipation of the lengthy explanation. "The various towns, for as far as I know exists, are connected by a series of roads, and have been for thousands of years. Over time, alot of towns have been destroyed, leaving roads that dead end at ruins, some from hundreds of years ago, some from this year. This particular road leads to a village that was destroyed at least a thousand years ago. However, there are still alot of towns along the side of the road, connected by dirt roads."

Kagome was shocked InuYasha could say so much with out cursing or insulting her. "So how far does this road run?" "Far, all the way to the sea." "Time wise?" "Lookin' for the shards? Oh shit.. month and a half, two maybe." "Two months?" Kagome exclaimed in shock. "Yepp." 'You're a long way from home city girl. Might as well keep me mouth shut and learn something before I go speaking out.'

"So the road have a name?" "Aye. The Kilburn High Road." Kagome was silent a moment. She listened to the silence for a moment before saying quietly, "Hey, InuYasha?" "What now?" "I'm hungry." "So eat somethin'. Ya got food in that pack don't ya?" "Well I can't get at it." "Sure ya can! Just turn around, ya just need good balance." "No!" "A'right, fine. I'll pull over.." He said slowling down. "Pansy.." he added under his breath. "S-" "Think carefully lass! I'm drivin'!" Kagome stopped in mid word and glared at him angrily.

InuYasha pulled off into a clearing. He jumped off quickly. Kagome let him walk five feet, let him think he was safe. He turned around and opened his mouth. "SIT!" Kagome screamed. He slammed into the eath. She calmly swung her leg over and stepped down as InuYasha lie face down in the dirt.

InuYasha dug his hand into the grass. 'How can I get this bitch for this? I need her alive and well to get the shards, and if I insult her I get sat..' He slowly raised his head up to glare at the offending female.

His head was roughly four inches off the ground and three feet away from the back of Kagome's legs. All thoughts of revenge dissipated as his mind went blank. Then she bent over to get something from her bag.

When Kagome turned around with a sandwich, InuYasha was sitting down and facing away from her. She sensed something was amiss with the half demon, but couldn't put her finger on it. 'Eh, fuck him. He can take care of it himself.' She thought as InuYasha continued his vigil of the other direction.

Behind him Kagome leaned against the Harley and began eating her sandwich. InuYasha stared straight ahead and willed his face to stop burning.

Five minutes later they were on the road again. Kagome was strangly free from boredom, possesing no desire to be doing anything. She leaned back against her pack and let the sun beat down upon her face.

They had cleared the forests of Kaede's town. The Kilburn High Road ran through rolling hills covered in emerald green grass. Kagome stared at the scenery in wonder. She had never left the wonderless city scape of her home. To her, the vast empty hills were the most enchanting sight on the Earth. 

So much so that she felt her anger at InuYasha falling to the wayside. She didn't forgive him, but she was too enthralled to be angry. She didn't even bother telling InuYasha to stop for lunch.

The road itself was a small semi-paved path that wound its way through the hills. Nothing moved anywhere. It seemed as if the whole world was deserted.

Around midafternoon she closed her eyes and leaned back farther against the pack. She drifted between sleep and consciousness for several hours. When she snapped back to reality, the sun was going down.

Just as she was getting her bearings, they crested a hill, and Kagome's breath caught in her throat. The dying sunlight was caught perfectly in a shallow lake spread out in a valley underneath them.

"InuYasha!" she yelled. "Let's stop here for tonight!" "What? There's still light out!" "I said let's camp here, or I'll say it when we do stop!" She added in exasperation. "A'right a'right.." InuYasha said hastely, pulling over.

Kagome grabbed her pack off the bike and ran to the highest spot nearby. InuYasha grumbled at the added walk and walked over as she unpacked dinner. "Stay here, I'm gonna get some firewood." "Okay." she said absently, staring out at the lake.

When he returned the sun had set. He immediately got to work starting the fire. When he had a small blaze going, he stood up and stretched his back before lighting up.

He turned around to see Kagome standing behind him, holding out a sandwich. He stared at her, perplexed. "It's yours. Sorry I forgot at breakfast." 

'Take the sandwhich, eat the sandwich. It's not difficult InuYasha.' Kagome thought as he continued to stare at her as if she had tried to grope him.

He reached out and took it suspiciously. He retreated to the other side of the fire and sat down before opening the wrapping. Kagome sighed. 'What's his problem, it's nothing more than a sandwhich ain't it? What ever.' She sat down on her sleeping bag and looked out over the valley.

After she finished, she continued staring at the moonlight bathed valley. Eventually the silence became too silent. "So.. where are you from InuYasha?" She asked no louder than she had to, and in the same tone she had used in the morning.

"What?" He asked in genuine confusion. 'What is with this guy? Does he have a problem talking with other people?' "Where are you from, ya know, your past." "That's not important.." He said quietly. "C'mon, just where were ya born?" The shadow across the fire remained silent. "C'mon, it's nothin' big. Where'd ya go to school? Do ya have any family? Ever been kissed?" She prodded jokingly.

"I said it's not fucking important!" He snapped at her in rage. Kagome shot back in surprise. "Just fucking drop it!" He snarled. He got up and walked off into the darkness.

'Holy crap.' Was all Kagome could think. 'What's his problem?' By the time she had fallen asleep, he had not returned. 


	8. Day 2

Kagome woke up the next day long after sunrise. InuYasha was already up and looking out over the valley they had camped out over. She stood up and rubbed her back. Leaning against a lumpy backpack all day, then sleeping on the grass, had not been kind to her.

She looked over at InuYasha's back. She didn't need to talk to him to know he was still mad. 'All I did was ask an innocent question, what the hell set that guy off? I've never seen him so genuinely angry. He won't be fun to travel with today.'

Kagome walked over to her bag and reached in for her breakfast. 'Might as well make a peace offering.' She thought pulling two out. 'He sure isn't going to apologize.'

Kagome walked up behind the half demon. "InuYasha?" He remained silent. "I got breakfast." "I ain't hungry." he replied with cold indifference.

Kagome glared in frustration. 'Okay, fine. I tried being civil with this asshole. Let 'em starve.' She thought, taking a bite. After she had chewed for several seconds, she opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out at his back before walking back to her sleeping bag.

She finished eating and rolled up her bag. "C'mon, I'm ready, let's go." She said, halfway hoping to get drawn into an argument with the moody prick so she would have an excuse to sit him.

The half demon didn't argue. He just stood up slowly. The valley below served as a back drop to his thin frame, and the wind whipped around him while he took one last angry gaze over the landscape..

'Jesus. This guy is out of a fucking movie. I've found the half demon James Dean.' Kagome thought, shaking her head. 'Hell, I'm traveling around the boonies on a Harley with James Yasha, on a quest for a magic jewel. My life IS a fucking movie..'

InuYasha returned to the bike and jammed the key in. The Harley roared to life. He slammed the kickstand back and sped forward.

About three hours of chilly silence later, the road started getting bumpy. And hilly. Kagome began to get nervous. The larger bumps sent a sent a jolt of fear through her that she would fall off. A moment later and the road was a bunch of patches of asphalt in more or less a straight line.

By now Kagome was worried. Each bump would send her flying sideways. Several times she was sure the arm rest was the only thing that had saved her. "Isn't there somethin' to hold on to on this suicide machine?" Kagome yelled as she was forced briefly into the air, coming down with a loud "Oof!"

"Underneath your seat, on the side of the bike." InuYasha replied calmly. Kagome's hands scrambled frantically for the handles and clutched them for dear life as a jolt sent an arm rest into her ribs. 'Oh shit, that's not a figure of speech!' She thought in alarm.

They crested a hill. The front wheel bounded off a piece of broken pavement and went airborne. Kagome made the mistake of letting out a small scream.

InuYasha heard the girl scream. He grinned evilly. He was going to get her back for those sits. Oh yeah, he was gonna get her good. He throttled forward. The bike bounced more wildly. Kagome's knuckles whitened as she grasped on to the metal bar with all her might.

"SLOW DOWN!" She screamed, desperately trying to stay alive. InuYasha pretended not to hear her as they rolled down the hill. Up ahead the road rose up again in another hill. One jagged piece of asphalt stood level while the rest of the road went downhill.

Kagome's eyes widened in fear. "No.. NO NO NO NO NO!" She screamed at him. He only sped up.

InuYasha was grinning now. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins as he headed for that piece of asphalt. Every muscle in his body was loose, begging to be used. He could see every crack in the pavement, feel the air and fuel igniting beneath him, Hell he could even hear Kagome's heartbeat with his ears. She was freakin'.

Kagome kept screaming at the half demon. 'Don't, don't fucking DON'T! Move, go off course! Something! Don't!' her mind raged at him.

The front wheel glided smoothly along the asphalt, before dropping away over the edge. But before it could hit the ground the heavier back end dropped off and slammed into the ground, leaving the front end in midair as the tire caught and propelled them downwards.

For all intents and purposes, they were free falling. Kagome's stomach flew to her throat. She clung with all the strength in her arms to the handles as her lighter body began to float upwards.

InuYasha leaned forward and rested his wieght on the handlebars. The front wheel touched down and gripped the road just before the road evened out. 

Kagome had barely bounced off the hard seat when the road climbed up the next hill. InuYasha used his momentium from the fall to race up the hill. Kagome was thrown back against her backpack.

To InuYasha's disappointment, and Kagome's relief, the road leveled out when they reached the top. Not wanting to slow down just yet, InuYasha gunned it.

"Stop! Fucking stop!" Kagome pleaded behind him. 'Aright, she's had enough, she's still just a girl after all.' InuYasha's brain argued, even though, for some reason the thought met no opposition. He slowed down and pulled off to the side of the road.

When he stopped, Kagome uncermoinasly flopped off. She took several deep breaths and rubbed her back. She was sore elsewhere, but she sure as hell wasn't rubbing that.

InuYasha stepped off nonchalantly and fished in his pocket for his smokes. "Light weight." He muttered.

When Kagome had finished, he had actually made an indent in the ground. While Kagome was still recovering he managed to pushed himself up. "Sit!" She panted for good measure. He slammed into the ground once more.

"Bastard!" She yelled at him. He opened his mouth to retort but got sat instead. He wisely decided to stay down after that. Kagome looked out from her vanatge point on the hill. A dirt path ran out from the road further on. It led to a good sized town about five miles away. It was the first sign of civilization Kagome had seen in days, and if InuYasha didn't head over there she was going to sit him through the Earth!

She was about to make her demand when a bright orange light flashed on the outskirts of the town. As she tried to figure out what had happened, thick black smoke began to pour from where the light came.

Something had exploded. At that moment she got a prickling sensation in the back of her head. There was a shard in that direction. And she was willing to bet it was in that town. 


	9. TNT

InuYasha and Kagome wandered down the dirt road in silence. They had been walking for an hour and a half. InuYasha had left the bike on the road. He had messed with something hidden in the engine, and though it appeared the same to Kagome, InuYasha claimed it was safe from everything.

His excuse for making her walk was that the dirt path was unsafe. Kagome knew after what he had just done, it really was out of spite for those eighty something sits. 'Bastard.'

The day actually was pretty nice. It wasn't too hot or too sunny. The path ran through a meadow of brownish ankle high grass. But after the first hour of walking, Kagome's legs began to get tired. She looked at the town in the distance and sighed inwardly. She glared at the asshole walking in front of her. 'Fucking bastard.'

'Fucking bitch.' InuYasha thought of the girl behind him. 'If it's the last thing I do I will find a way to remove this damned necklace and get her back for this.' For now he contented himself with making her walk. For him, the five miles was nothing. For the city girl? 'Heh.'

Kagome willed herself not to make a noise, not to stretch or rub her legs. Not give any sign that the walk bothered her. This bastard thought she was gonna complain, that the city girl couldn't handle it. Oh no, she was gonna tough it out.

InuYasha frowned a half hour later. 'So, she's not as weak as she looks. No matter, I'll get her yet.' he thought, walking slightly faster.

'BASTARD!' Kagome screamed in her mind as she increased her pace accordingly. She looked up at the town and tried to figure out how much longer. 'Who are you kiddin'? You have no idea. Keep walking.' Her tired legs and aching feet agreed. 'I really don't have good shoes for this...'

InuYasha scowled when they got within a quarter mile of the town. 'Not a sound out of her. Damnit. Ah well. Next time.' He thought, stopping. He reached in his pocket and removed a red bandanna with a white pattern on it before putting it over his head and covering his ears.

Kagome rolled her eyes. 'James Yasha.' She thought. "What's with the bandanna?" She asked, a hint of anger in her voice. "People see my ears, they'd freak an' try and kill me, and it's alot of work killing a whole town." Kagome rolled her eyes again. "But you're a half demon, you're one of the good guys."

InuYasha stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her like she has said the single stupidest thing on the planet. "You got a lot to learn, girl." He muttered with emphasis on the last word.

They passed the first house, and two or three more on the outskirts before they entered the town proper. InuYasha's eyes scanned the houses. 'No one's out. It's too quiet. Something's happened. They couldn't of seen me coming. No human has eyes that good. And most humans tend to be sympathetic towards travellers. What are they afraid of?'

The smoke was coming from the other side of town. It had mostly died away, but something still smoldered. When the ruins came into view, Kagome rushed towards a group of people who had gathered outside it. InuYasha stayed hidden in the shadows of a wooden house and leaned back against it. His ears picked up the conversation inside.

Kagome ran up to the group of about ten people gathered infront of what used to be a house. Several people were shifting through the ashes with rakes.

She found someone who looked important, a middle aged balding man, and pushed her way through the crowd to him. "Excuse me, is there anyway I can help here?" She asked. He looked from a clipboard in surprise. She could tell he had a long day from the bags under his eyes. "No miss, the only thing we can do now is bury these people." He said sadly. Apparently he had not noticed she was a stranger to the town.

Kagome turned to watch the men shifting through the ruins. 'They're looking for remains.' She thought, sickened slightly. "This is horrible." She muttered to herself.

"Yeah, it's shame.. third time in a month." "What?" "Yeah, but the McClowins were too proud to pay.." He said exhausted. "But they paid anyway." He flipped the papers on the clipboard down. "In the end, they all pay." He added quietly.

"Well, nothing we can do now." He said. trying to clear the silence his last sentence made. "That's how it is. People live and people die, and you can't do nothing but look out for yer self. Live and let die."

InuYasha listened to the conversation inside with interest while he lit up. They had had his attention since he figured out what they were talking about. 'Not your average dinner table talk. Wish they would stop talking in innuendos. Just because they know what they mean don't mean I do.'

He could smell the girl returning. He wrinkled his nose, but for some reason instead of blocking the scent, more of it wafted in. 'Fuck it.' He thought, opening his eyes.

Kagome explained all she had heard to InuYasha. When she finished he turned this head toward the house he was resting against. "Well now, everything makes a little more sense." He said. "What do you mean?" "Nothin'. Anyway, where's the shard?"

In the heat of what had happened she had forgotten to pay attention to the shard. "Uhh.." she began, focusing. "It's not in the town. It's not far away though.. that way." She exclaimed, pointing to a line of hills a quarter mile away. "Well, then, let's go." He said as he started walking.

As they exited the town, Kagome again asked him what he meant back in the town. "Huh? Oh yeah. Some guy's been demanding ransom of people, and I guess if ya don't pay ya get blown up." He said, reaching up and removing the bandanna. "How do you know?" "I was listening to some people talk about it. Looks like they're next on the list."

"That's terrible! What are they gonna do about it?" "Hell I dunno, they seem to have money troubles and can't pay." He said shrugging. "So they're gonna get killed?" Kagome asked in shocked concern. "Yeah, looks like it." InuYasha replied indifferently.

"We gotta help!" Kagome exclaimed. InuYasha stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. "We?" "Yeah, I mean you're strong enough to get rid of this guy and-" Kagome looked into his yellow eyes. Nothing. No worry, no empathy. If anything, there was annoyance.

"You don't care do you?" "Not specifically." He replied, walking again. True, he knew the moral thing to do was to help, but he had no obligation to do the moral thing.

"But.. they can't help themselves.." She begged quietly. "So? Not our problem. Our problem is the jewel. For all we know this guy will blow US up." "You're the only one that can help!" She yelled angrily. "So what?" He replied just as angrily. "So they're going to die!" "Better them than me!" He barked.

Kagome stopped. InuYasha looked over his shoulder. She had her head down so he couldn't see her face, hands balled tightly into fists and shaking. "You selfish bastard..." She said quietly, the words dripping with hate, turning back to town.

"Where the hell you think yer goin'?" InuYasha demanded angrily. She whipped around. "TO GO HELP THOSE PEOPLE, SINCE YOU CAN'T BE BOTHERED TO!" She screamed.

InuYasha stared at her retreating back. 'Jesus. She's pissed. Real pissed. Eh, why the hell do, SHOULD, I care? Because she'll be a bitch to travel with.' His mind informed him. 'Oh, yeah right.'

Still, he felt a twinge of something. He pushed it down immediately. 'It was just a memory brought on by her resemblance to Kikyo. A memory from the bad ol' days...'

InuYasha trudged up the last of the slope. He looked out over the landscape as the wind whipped into his face. He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the scent it brought to his nose.

There were a bunch of small, hastily constructed wood structures ahead. Most were one story, but some were twice as tall. The smell of explosives came to his nose. And the smell of demon.

Without having to wait for the girl he made short work of the distance. As he got closer he also picked up the smell of several humans. 'So the demon didn't make the explosives himself. Lazy bastard.' He thought, landing in front of the largest building.

He flicked his wrist, bringing the switch blade into his hand. He quietly pushed the door open, hoping nothing was booby trapped. He stepped in and surveyed the scene.

The room was filled with barrels. One was open to reveal a black powder. 'Thank God I put out my smoke.' Several humans stood with their backs toward him, mixing explosives. Some had guns, one had a knife.

InuYasha walked up toward the one directly in front of him. He grinned. The same feeling from earlier in the day when he had popped a wheelie down that hill returned. He flexed his grip on the knife. He couldn't help but grin in anticipation. But above all, the knowledge, the sweet knowledge of the future, while his victim remained ignorant.

InuYasha got within arm's reach of the first human. He covered human #1's mouth with his hand, feeling him twitch in surprise just before InuYasha drove the blade into his back.

InuYasha twisted the knife and slid it out before letting him drop to the deck. The others' attention was drawn by the sound of his body hitting the wooden floor.

The human on InuYasha's right didn't even have time to blink before InuYasha closed the distance and slit his throat. The one on his left even had time to yell and draw his sidearm before InuYasha sent him to meet his buddies.

InuYasha stood up and scanned the room triumphantly. True, it was just three humans, but he'd drunk to less. A sound made him look to his right.

'FUCK!' There was another room, and this guy had seen what had happened to #3 and drawn his gun. InuYasha's eyes widened, not in fear of the human.

He bolted for the door with all the speed he could muster, hoping the human would realize his target was gone in time not to fire.

InuYasha distinctly heard the gun go off, and distinctly heard the hot chunk of lead imbed itself in a barrel and begin to smolder.

Kagome was half way back to town when the ground beneath her rocked. A split second later, a thunderous explosion reached her ears. She whipped around. 'InuYasha!' She ran off toward the sound of the explosion.

She raced down the hill toward a form laying motionless on the ground. As she got close, she recognized a familiar pair of ears. "Jesus!" she exclaimed, dropping to her knees next the form. "InuYasha?"

The half demon coughed and rolled over on to his back. "Fuck me... that hurt like hell." He mumbled sitting up. "You're okay?" Kagome questioned. InuYasha pushed himself to his feet and brushed the ashes off his jacket. "Course, I ain't no weak human." He said, his yellow eyes made even more prominent by the soot on his face.

InuYasha coughed some black soot once more before reaching in his jacket. Kagome stared at him increduously as he pulled out his pack of smokes and lit up. 'I don't fucking believe him.'

"Demon's still alive." he muttered nonchalantly, sticking the lighter back in his jacket. "Demon? What demon?" Kagome exclaimed.

The wall of one of the still standing buildings, a larger one, exploded outward as something crashed through it. The demon, it was two and a half times InuYasha's size, looked human enough in that it had two arms and two legs, but its skin was black as coal.

"That one." InuYasha replied coolly, taking a drag. "Stay 'ere." He muttered to Kagome before rushing at the demon.

InuYasha closed distance with the demon. The thing saw him and charged at him. 'Shit, he's fast!' InuYasha thought in alarm, leaping sideways just in time to avoid a fist the size of his head.

The demon turned after him in a blur. 'Oh shit, he can turn too. Well, if he's this fast, he can't be that heavy.' InuYasha turned and leapt straight at the demon, twisting mid air to avoid another fist.

The switch blade glowed yellow as InuYasha slashed into its chest before jumping back to survey the damage. Except there was no damage. The demon was unharmed.

'Oh fuck.' He thought, barely dodging another fist. His eyes widened as the other fist swung out at him. He turned his body parrallel to the ground and felt the air move as the fist passed beneath him.

InuYasha landed and leaped at his opponent, slashing again, getting the same result. 'Oh shit. That's not gonna work!' He thought leaping back and away from a fist. Before he could get his bearings another fist whistled down at him.

He jumped back, barely in time, but the demon rushed at him and before he landed the next fist was on its way.

InuYasha was winded. The demon was always there, always swinging. He couldn't get more than fifteen feet from the bastard. He felt his legs giving less and less strength to each jump. His breathing became ragged.

'I gotta end this, gotta end this soon.' Even his thoughts came in pants. He ran through his options. The knife and.. the knife. 'I'm fucked.'

InuYasha took a deep breath as he pushed off. Weakly. Very weakly. A fist flew toward him. He tried to move, tried to twist, but he no longer had the air in his lungs.

The fist grew larger in his vision untill it disappeared underneath his eyes and slammed into his chest.

While he was in air, he was only aware of the dull pain throughout his chest. Then his back slammed into the wall of a partially destroyed building.

'Oh fuck..' InuYasha had felt something slam hard into his shoulder. Well, harder than the wall that slammed into his back. It felt as if his ribs had been pushed in on his lungs.

He looked up. 'Hey, I'm actually inside. That sumbitch punched me into TWO walls.' he thought, chuckling. The far side of the room was filled with the same barrels from before. The roof had been blown off in the explosion.

InuYasha pushed himself to his feet as the demon jumped into the building, crushing a pile of barrels. It stood on the opposite end, staring at the immobile half demon. 'He knows I can't move. The fucker's smiling.' InuYasha thought grasping his side. "Yeah yeah, keep smiling ugly." He taunted.

The demon didn't move. 'Cool headed bastard.' InuYasha thought. 'I. Am. Fucked.' Just once, outta curiosity, he flicked his eyes to the hill where he had left Kagome. 'Yepp, she's still there.'

But she wasn't all that was there. Embedded in one of the surviving support beams was the knife of human #1. The explosion had blown it, blade first, into another building.

InuYasha grinned in earnest as he stared at the hilt protruding from the blackened beam. Some wood had fallen away to reveal embers inside the beam. 'Beautiful.'

InuYasha returned his own blade to his sleeve, and reached for the embedded knife, never taking his eyes off the demon. He grabbed the hilt and ripped it free, sending the beam crashing down. He held it up, ready to strike, blade pointing at the demon. 

Now that its opponent was armed and ready for a fight, the demon got ready to finish off the half demon.

'This is gonna hurt like hell!' InuYasha brought the blade back and whipped it with all his strength. It sailed between the demon's legs and into a barrel.

InuYasha looked up at the demon and let a small smile spread over his face. He quickly crossed his arms over his face as the first explosion sent a rush of air past him fast enough to push him backwards.

Kagome lost her balance and fell backwards as the third explosion of the day rocked through the landscape. She regained her footing and searched for InuYasha. She found the smoldering half demon two hundred feet away, lying still on his stomach.

InuYasha came to slowly. Someone was shaking his shoulder. His good shoulder thankfully. Something jammed against his neck. He heard the girl call his name.

Kagome sighed in relief when the half demon's ear twitched at the sound of her voice. She removed her fingers from his jugular. She hadn't felt a pulse, but he was responding. Still he didn't move. "InuYasha, are you okay?"

Her answer came mumbled around the dirt. "Fuck... this.. shit.." 


	10. Sympathy for the Devil

InuYasha swore and flexed his wounded shoulder. He hadn't taken a look at it and assumed it would be fine, but it had been hurting for two days.

Kagome looked from her ever present expanding yellow bag. When he thought she couldn't see InuYasha had been gripping his shoulder since the fight.

She felt kinda bad for him, but she still hadn't forgiven the selfish bastard. She looked down in the bag and fished out the medical kit. She didn't know much, but maybe she could help. If anything, it would make him less irritable.

She grabbed it and walked up behind him. "InuYasha?" She asked in the disarming voice she had learned to use when she didn't want to set him off.

"What?" He asked, looking behind him. Kagome held the kit out. "Do you want me to take a look at your shoulder?" "Wha?" InuYasha asked, the question seemingly lost on him.

"Well, you've been holding your shoulder alot, and I was wondering if you got hurt in the fight." "Wha? No, it's fine. I heal alot quicker than you humans." "You're gonna continue to be irritable until it heals, let me at least take a look at it!" "No it's fine! And it doesn't make me irritable!" "You're being irritable right now! What, are you embarrassed? Let me see!" "If anything, it should be the other way around!" "Well.. wait, what? Never mind! Just let me see it or I'll you-know-what your ass!"

InuYasha stared at her, but she refused to back down. "Aright, fine." he muttered turning back around, dropping his jacket and pulling off his Tshirt.

Kagome's hands tightened on the kit. His entire back was covered by scars. 'Jesus, so many scars..' She thought numbly, searching for the wound among the marks. 'Jesus, what the hell has he been through.?'

InuYasha smirked to himself when he heard Kagome's sharp intake of breath. 'Never seen someone so messed up, eh girl? Course, could be something else, but I doubt that with her.'

Kagome found the wound on his shoulder. It was a good sized gash that looked halfway healed. 'And he heals faster than normal? Jesus, what did it look like before?' Kagome thought.

"Si- ... you know what I mean." Kagome caught herself. InuYasha felt a warm hand on his shoulder and let out a hiss of pain as she pushed down on it.

"Sorry." Kagome muttered quietly. 'Jesus, I knew he hadn't had an easy life, but Jesus. He prolly coulda avoided half this, but still.' She thought spraying some antiseptic on the wound. InuYasha winced but stayed silent.

"Hey, InuYasha?" "Yeah?" InuYasha answered, pulling his jacket over to him. "Something has been bugging me.." "Yeah?" He said absentmindedly, fishing in the jacket pockets.

"Well, when you were out after.. well after the explosion, I tried to feel for a pulse, but I didn't feel anything. I probably missed, but is that a half demon thing?" "What do you care?" InuYasha asked cynically, finding his smokes in one of the pockets.

"Well.. I'm curious I guess. I just wanna know." She answered truthfully. InuYasha sighed. 'Well, what's the harm in telling? Besides, I don't want her thinkin' I'm dead somewhere down the road and leaving me there.'

"No, I don't have a heartbeat, but no it's not a half demon thing. I've been like that since about a month and a half ago. The blood still moves, but I ain't got a pulse."

Kagome stopped for a second. "Really?" She asked in interest. "Yepp." "Let me see!" She demanded, jabbing him in the neck with two fingers. Sure enough, no pulse. "Weird.." She muttered, withdrawing her fingers. Just to be sure, she put her first two fingers on his neck again.

InuYasha tilted his head to his left to statisfy her curiousty. Kagome held her fingers there for a moment, then withdrew slower than last time.

Kagome went back to her work. 'A month and a half ago..' She did the math in her head. 'That woulda been... about right when he came out of the coma. So when the former guardian shot him, his heart stopped, but it never started again. Damn. It's like another universe out here.'

'Damn, she seems interested.. and sympathatetic.. maybe.. if I play my cards right..' A plan popped into InuYasha's head.

"There, done." Kagome finished. InuYasha stood up and got dressed again. "Is it still sore?" InuYasha couldn't believe it. She had given him the perfect opportunity! "Yeah, but it's only real bad when ya put pressure on it. Like with those sits.." InuYasha trailed off, praying he kept the hopefulness out of his voice.

"Oh, I didn't know." Kagome said quietly. "I'm sorry, I'll lay off." 'Ha, HAAA!' InuYasha's mind screamed in triumph. 'It worked! Haha! Score one for the bad guy!' 


	11. Tomorrow comes a day too soon

"Next town we pass, we have to pick up some food." Kagome said, fishing out two of the few remaining sandwiches. "What? How the hell did we eat that much so fast?" InuYasha queried over the fire. "They're going bad. Didn't you notice they're stale?" "They're fine!" "No they're not! I don't wanna die of food poisoning!" "You won't die." "I'll get sick at least!" "So let me eat them." He replied around a bite. "And if you get sick?" "What do you care if I get sick?" "I don't wanna have to listen to you complain about how sick you are, not to mention it would tie us up for days!" "Fine, how much money ya got?"

Kagome stopped eating and looked up at him. "Don't tell me.." InuYasha breathed. "I thought you had money.." "Fuck! Do I look like someone with money?" "Well you're supposed to protect me! That means more than just keeping me alive!" "Well fuck! Aright.. I'll think of something.."

"Think of anything?" Kagome asked as they started on the road the next morning. "What am I gonna do, pull it outta my ass? Wait till we get to a town." "Then what?" "Then I'll see what options are available! Now stop askin' questions!" "Will it be illegal?" "Are you writing a Godamn book? Shut up." "As soon as you step off I'm going to say it, InuYasha." Kagome replied matter-of-factly. "Yeah yeah, I know. Godamn you are a troublesome broad.."

Thankfully, they came up on the next town late the same day. Well, thankfully for Kagome. InuYasha hated the town immediately because of what would happen to him when they arrived.

As usual, InuYasha stopped a distance outside of town; a good sized one they had spotted from a hill. For a moment he sat still, gathering his nerves. Behind him, he could feel the girl smile in anticipation.

He slowly lit a cigarette and took a drag. "You are evil." He said, throwing one leg over the bike. "Last words, InuYasha?" "Feh." InuYasha jumped off the bike to meet his fate, which Kagome happily provided.

When he had risen to his feet, Kagome was dusting herself off. The action earned her a glare. "It was dusty on the road." She offered. InuYasha's glare deepened. "I know."

InuYasha put the bandana back on his head as they walked through the deep blue summer twilight. To the city girl, like all the country she had seen before, it was a beautiful day. 'If only a certain someone would just be agreeable for once.'

By the time they had reached town, night had fallen. "Ah shit.. Looks like we'll be here overnight." "What? Where? We have no money." "Fool city girl, a lot of towns leave deserted one room traveling houses for wanderers such as ourselves. We'll stay in one of those."

Kagome found this fascinating, and let him finish before extracting her revenge for the 'Fool city girl' crack.

'House' was an overstatement. It was a large walk in closet with no room. It was made of wood and had an open fire pit in the middle. There was some straw stacked around, presumably for bedding. It was a fire waiting to happen.

"I'm going to look for some money. Try not to get killed." InuYasha said, leaving Kagome alone.

Okay, he had lied. He did have some money. But he had better use for it. InuYasha headed for a pub in town.

Kagome sighed. 'Bastard. Leaving me alone like this, like I'm a kid. Well whatever. About time I got some time to myself anyway. Let him do what he wants. At least I can get a good night's sleep for once.'

Kagome threw her sleeping bag on the hay and crawled in. She couldn't help but smile at her cunning. She had the soft support of the straw, without getting poked by anything.

InuYasha took his seat on a stool and ordered a beer. 'The girl was right, we do need some money.. push comes to shove, I could rob a bank, but that presents problems if I ever have to come back this way.. Damn, may have to get a job..' His ears twitched under the bandana, searching through the conversations to pick out any shady deals going on.

Kagome woke up an hour later. 'Damn, it's too hot. Forgot straw insulates heat.' She thought, deciding the sleeping bag would be the one to go. She laid back down the straw on and tried to get comfortable.

As a cool breeze blew in, and she smiled to her self. 'Ya know, this ain't too bad. I don't have to do much. Just put up with InuYasha, and it is kinda fun to sit him.' She dug herself deeper into the straw.

'Heck, it's even getting easier. I'm getting used to being on the bike, and even though I was a little scared at the time, I've never been in any real danger from a demon since we started. Hell, might even be fun. I mean, I'm seeing things I never woulda seen at home.'

She rolled over and rested her head on arm her before drifting off.'I can't wait till tomorrow, see what happens then.'

InuYasha sighed. Nothin'. No opportunities had presented themselves. Robbery seemed unavoidable. He let his ears drop. No need to continue looking for work.

He took a drink from his beer. 'No money, stuck carrying around those fucking demon magnets. Not to mention the girl..' He sighed again.

'No word of Kikyo, nothing...' He stared into his beer. 'Dammit Kikyo, where are you?' Somewhere in the bar, someone started a song on the jukebox. A slow, bluesy tune that fit him perfectly.

He smiled grimly and stopped thinking, the music filling his head.  
'Tomorrow I get to hear Kagome bitch at me, then continue looking for money. Meanwhile, we starve, and Kikyo still isn't by my side.' He sighed. 'Tomorrow comes a day too soon..'

InuYasha stumbled into the 'house' three hours later. He slumped down against the wall on the side of the door. He looked up at the girl across from him. She had curled up and passed out on the little straw bed.

'Jesus, she looks so calm and peaceful... and so much like Kikyo..'

InuYasha flicked the lighter into life, taking a long drag and slowly releasing the smoke. He closed his eyes and leaned his head forward. The song from the bar still playing in his head.

He smiled sadly, and softly sang out the first lines. "Another lonely night, in another lonely town.."

Kagome rolled over to face the wall. She spent the rest of the night thinking about what she had just heard her companion say. 


	12. Robberies, witty banter, beer, etc

"Start walking back to the bike, I gotta take care of something, then I'll catch up with ya." InuYasha said as he turned and left Kagome alone on the road out of town. He walked into town and hid behind a building and waited untill her scent got far enough away.

InuYasha grinned to himself. 'Finally! Finally, I ditched that girl and can do things the way I want, wit out protecting her ass! Ha HA! No more whining! No more sits! No more 'Gome's dirty looks!' He felt like dancing.

He found the bank and walked in. One guard, wood building, safe in the back. 'Piece of cake.' InuYasha smiled. Could this day get any better?

He returned to a shady corner and hid in the shadows. He removed the bandanna from his head and tied it over his face. 'Of course, they could just recognize me from the DAMN EARS ON MY HEAD.. oh well. Looks cool none the less.'

InuYasha rolled his neck, flexed his wrists. Then in one swift motion, slammed right through the side wall of the bank.

InuYasha stood in the mayhem of the room and found the guard. He had been knocked down by the wood crashing inwards. In a split second the half demon was upon him. InuYasha slammed the man into the wall. Hard. He dropped limp to ground.

InuYasha turned to the back wall and leapt forward, crashing through the desk between himself and the safe. He drew back and punched right through the lock, ripping the door off its hinges. He shoveled the money into his jacket and leapt back out the hole he made earlier. The whole incident took less than fifteen seconds.

Kagome looked back at the sound rushing toward her. A blur of brown sped at her. She blinked, something slammed into her, and when she opened her eyes, she was on InuYasha's back.

"Inu- what the hell?" "We're getting the hell outta dodge! Now shut up and hold on!" "What the fuck did you do?" "Nothing!" "Then why are you running?" "I said shut up and hang on!" "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what happened!" "What the fuck makes you think you got a Godamned choice in the matter!"

Kagome planned to sit him as soon as he set her down, but in one of the most acrobatic and, undoubtedly, somewhat painful things she'd ever seen, InuYasha managed to land them both on the Harely and take off before Kagome figured out what was going on.

Denied of her vengeance, Kagome pushed herself back into her seat with a pout. "Wait. Where'd your bandanna go?" "Huh? Oh yeah." InuYasha took the piece of cloth from off his face. Kagome stared at his back in shock. "What the hell did you do InuYasha?" "I got the money, you're not hurt. Other than that, what do you care? There's a town a about a day away. if you can survive with out lunch, dinner's on me." "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" InuYasha merely smiled.

They pulled into the next town after sunset. InuYasha secured the bandanna back on top of his head. "So where are we eating?" Kagome asked, the day of traveling nonstop had eroded her anger. "I'll find a place.." InuYasha said, scanning the buildings.

Kagome had expected a restaurant. Hell, even a fast food joint. She had not expected a bar. "A bar? Dinner at a bar?" InuYasha sighed. "Wise up girl. It's a pub, a real pub, so they serve food."

They sat down in a corner booth. The place was in no fucking way classy. It was hastily built and filled with drunks the size of line men, all of whom looked dangerous. InuYasha grinned and flung his boots up on the table.

"That's not very polite, InuYasha." Kagome stated, the threat of a sit left unsaid. "Do your little trick and we'd have a lot of explaining and running to do, girl."

InuYasha lit up and offered the pack to Kagome. "Smoke?" "What? No!" "Huh? Why not?" "Well for one, I'm underage!" "Underage?" "Yes! Under the legal age to smoke."

InuYasha just stared at her, utterly lost. Kagome looked at him. With that lost expression on his face, and his gold eyes, and the two ears she knew to be under his bandanna, he looked.. well, he looked like a confused puppy.

InuYasha was only confused more when Kagome burst out laughing. "Hey, what the hell's so funny?" "Nothing! Nothing!" Kagome cried out in between laughter. She quickly regained her composure and stifled down a giggle.

"What ever. Fucking girl.." InuYasha trailed off as he flagged down a waiter. "A beer." InuYasha said when he got to the table. "Same for you?" The waiter asked, turning to Kagome. "Uhh.. No, I'll just have a hamburger and a Pepsi, thanks." 'Doesn't anyone out here care how young I am?'

"Are you ever going to take your feet off the table?" Kagome asked as the waiter returned with their drinks. "No." InuYasha replied. "Well take them off! I wanna put my feet up." "What happened to your manners?" "My feet are tired! I don't have good shoes for this stuff!" "Fine..." InuYasha slid his feet off the table.

Kagome leaned back in the booth and placed her feet on the table.  
InuYasha couldn't help but agree, she did not have the shoes for this, and that would slow her down if she ever had to run from something. "We gotta get you a pair of boots or something.." "Like yours?" "Umm yeah.." 'I had a different kind of boots in mind, but hey, I knew I was a sick bastard long before this.'

The waiter returned with Kagome's food, and as she took her feet down to eat, InuYasha threw his back up. Over the sound of the pub, a The Stones came on over the speakers. Before he could stop him self, InuYasha sang the first line to him self around his cigarette. "You can't always get what ya want..."

Kagome heard him but made no indication of it. 'Maybe it's time to try digging into his past a little again. I doubt he'd storm off in public. Here goes.'

"So.. InuYasha.. how long have played guitar?" InuYasha blinked in surprise. "Uhh a couple years.. why do you wanna know?" "No reason. Just curious." InuYasha stared at her like a puzzle, trying to figure out her motivation.

"So, what aren't you hungry?" Kagome asked next. "Nah, I don't have to eat as much as you humans." "Oh, of course." Kagome rolled her eyes.

Kagome's attention was drawn to a fight that had broken out at the bar. As she watched, InuYasha noticed her hand searching for her soda. With one quick move InuYasha pulled her drink away and pushed his beer into her hand.

She pulled the glass to her lips and took a drink. InuYasha tried not to crack up as she realized she wasn't drinking Pepsi. She looked down at the glass and quickly spat it out as InuYasha roared with laughter.

"InuYasha! You.. you..." Kagome searched for the right adjective as his luaghter died down. "You.. bad doggy!"

Kagome wished she could of taken a picture of his expression.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?"

An hour later, the two stumbled into the road house. Kagome collapsed on a pile of straw in exhaustion, and burrowed into it. InuYasha slumped down against the wall and passed out.

'See? I knew it. Warm food, soft bed, InuYasha less of an asshole. I knew things would get better.' Kagome thought before drifting off. 


	13. So close

A/N: To my reviewers. (Holy shit I feel like a real author.)

Littleolmee: Yeah, it leads somewhere.

inuyashashun: Well, it'll be like the show, but since IY and Kago spend more time together we'll more IY/Kago moments than IY/Kik moments. As for the final out come.. I'm not telling.

Amanda: Yeah, Uni's cool with me stealing the guitar in tree idea. Well she hasn't killed me for it, so I assume shes cool with it.

Everyone else who popped into to say you liked it: Thank you, you rock.

-----

Kagome walked out of the general store after she had bought the last of the food and various other supplies she thought they needed. Which was alot. But InuYasha had given her more money than he could earn legally, and she hadn't asked questions.

InuYasha was off getting gas. He usually kept one saddle bag full of gas cans, and he was most likely filling those up too. And not paying for them. Kagome scowled.

Kagome walked through the early morning silence toward the gas station. InuYasha claimed he liked leaving early so they had as much daylight as possible to travel, but Kagome suspected he just liked waking people up with that damned suicide machine.

As she walked, Kagome couldn't help but enjoy the fresh air. Not like the smog of her city.

InuYasha was resting against the bike as she approached. She waved as she drew near. InuYasha just let out a "Feh." in response. He finished fillng the tank as she start loading supplies into one of the saddlebags.

"Ready to leave?" Kagome asked. "No, one thing I gotta do. Stay here." InuYasha replied emotionlessly and walked off.

InuYasha walked across the street to the whiskey store. He walked in, picked him self up a bottle, and left before anyone stopped him.

InuYasha returned to the bike, dropped the bottle in one of the saddlebags none too gently. "What's that for?" Kagome asked. "A special occasion." InuYasha replied just as emotoinlessly as before.

'If I can't find my woman, I'm gonna sit down and drink my wine.' InuYasha thought as he started the Electra Glide. Kagome leaned back in the seat and said good bye to feeling in her ass for the rest of the day.

The air had grown muggy as the day drew on. The sky had filled with dark gray clouds, which made the grass seem a darker shade of green. The road seemed about a foot below the rest of the ground.

Kagome watched the grass blow in the wind. The wind seemed strong, and a slight chill made Kagome rub her arms. She scootched forward ever so slightly in the hope that InuYasha would break some of the wind.

The sky continued to darken and the wind continued to howl as Kagome smelt the negatively charged air. It was eerie. There wasn't a sound except the roar of the bike. The world seemed dead. They were alone in the world.

There was a flash of light in a cloud, followed by a low rumble. "It's gonna rain.." Kagome observed. InuYasha raised his head and sniffed the air. "Not for a couple hours, we're moving slightly away from it too.." "So where are we gonna stop?" "Stop?" "Well yeah, I mean it's gonna rain." "So? I can drive in the rain." "But we'll get wet!" "And later we'll dry off!" "I'm not getting soaked! Stop somewhere! 'Sides, I'm cold.." She finished quietly, rubbing her arms again.

Kagome was about to make her normal sit threat when InuYasha spoke. "Alright, fine. Next town we'll stop." Kagome stared at his back in surprise.

They had managed to out run the storm slightly when they reached the next town. "You're only getting a poncho, then we're leaving again!" InuYasha warned angrily as he pulled to a stop in front of a general store. 'Okay, thanks!" Kagome said instinctively as she jumped off the bike. She was gone before InuYasha, once again with a bandanna over his ears, could mutter "Wha?" in confusion.

Kagome still had some money left from earlier and bought a clear plastic poncho with no incident. She walked out of the store and back to the bike. InuYasha was about to leave when Kagome noticed a group of police and spectators gathered farther into town.

"Hold on!" She cried, leaping off and running toward the group. "What? No dammit!" InuYasha yelled after her. He sighed and reached for a smoke. 'Damn girl. Damn her and her soul.'

By the time InuYasha had finished his smoke, the girl was still talking. "Oh Godamn it.." He muttered getting off the Harely.

"What the hell's the hold up?" InuYasha yelled before he reached them. Kagome ran to him and explained what had happened.

"Somebody was shot. He was found in an alley with a knife and ski mask. It looks like self defense, but they wanna question the shooter to be sure. Problem is they can't find her." "Her?" "Yeah, a witness said she was a little taller than me, black hair, was wearing a white T shirt and jeans.."

'No. It couldn't be. There must be hundreds of black haired women who dress like that.' InuYasha thought sniffing the air. He weeded out a familiar scent. 'Oh God. It is.'

Kagome stared in shock as InuYasha frantically sniffed the air. 'What the hell is he doing?' she wondered. There was a wild frenzied look in his eyes. 'Oh right, he can track the scent, but why does he want to help?'

InuYasha stared in one direction leading out of town into the hills. Without a second glance he set off running. Kagome yelled after him and tried to keep up., but it was hopeless. The half demon was at the first hill before she left town.

InuYasha stopped and bent down. The scent was harder to track here. He'd have to go slow. He glared up the clouds. If it started to rain the scent would be lost. 'Damn it all!' He sniffed the air again. The girl was following him. 'Fuck! I can't let her run through the hills alone, she'd be eaten in a second. And I sure as hell ain't waiting for her!'

Kagome saw InuYasha move, blinked, and found herself on the hill. InuYasha was already moving down the hill, sniffing the air as he walked. At the crest of the next hill he stared at the gathering storm. "Fuck, I don't have long.. It's going to be a big one too.." He said, running off again.

Flashes appeared in the clouds. The low rumble grew constant. The wind howled. InuYasha got careless in his search. He'd sniff, run a few meters and sniff again. Kagome struggled to keep up and put on her poncho at the same time.

A rain drop fell. InuYasha believed real hard that it hadn't. A fork of lightning split the sky in front of him. The following explosion of thunder deafened him. Kagome shrieked behind him as the ground shook.

Another rain drop hit him in the face. InuYasha ran faster. He only checked the scent on the hill tops now. Grass and dirt flew to the heavens in front of him as lighting came down. Two drops hit him in the face.

The scent was growing slightly stronger. He was moving faster than Kikyo had been when she had left the scent; maybe a day ago. The sky split open and it began to pour.

Rain blasted InuYasha in the face. Somewhere behind him he had started leaping from hilltop to hilltop. The scent was already beginning to fade. He crouched forward to smell it better. 'Jesus, Kikyo has a great scent..'

He kept running. It kept raining. Lightning continued to strike at him. Thunder continued to shake the ground. Hilltop after hilltop flew beneath him.

He lost the scent somewhere. He stopped and dropped to the ground. 'There!' he found it again. He crawled forward, nose to the Earth, rain pelting his back, soaking him to the bone.

'Gone. I fucking lost it.' InuYasha stopped when he realized there was nothing for him to smell anymore. Nothing but rain. Rain and grass.

The hill he was on was particularly high. He stood up and stared out across the landscape. At the lighting and thunder raging against the earth, the rolling hills covered in grass being whipped around by the wind, at the dark storming clouds and driving rain.

He let himself fall down backwards on his ass. A shaking hand stuck a cigarette in his mouth. The same shaking hand tried desperately to work a lighter.

"GOD DAMN IT!" He raged at the heavens and tossed the lighter into the storm.

Kagome stared at the half demon. She gave him a couple minutes, then began walking towards him.

She sat down next to him silently. She knew better than to ask. She noticed he had a flask in his hand. "Are you okay InuYasha?" She asked quietly. "Yeah. Fine." He answered. He held the flask out to her. "Here. It'll keep ya warm." He said in way that almost sounded friendly. Kagome looked at him in confusion. He looked fine, but his eyes.. his eyes were in turmoil. "You said you were cold." Kagome nodded and took the flask.

She took a swig and coughed. What ever it was, it burned her throat. InuYasha chuckled and turned his eyes back to the storm. 'Angel, sweet angel of my youth, where have ya gone? Ya flew away too soon...' 


	14. The Likes of You Again, Part I

A/N: I changed the last paragraph of the last chapter cuz I've been looking for an excuse to use that line.

------

Wednesday night, while a half demon chased a woman through the rain, another dog was at work. Sesshomaru walked through the hills not ten miles from his brother. Before him lay a large tomb. Hopefully, the tomb of his father. Sesshomaruapproached and searched for a name. He quickly found it and frowned in frustration. Another wrong lead.

As he turned to leave, two beings, who had long ago been cursed to guard the tomb, burst forth from the ground. Sesshomaru cooly drew a Sykes-Fairbairn Commando knife from the sleeve of his suit. He swung the dagger, and a thin green line appeared on the beings. The acid ate through them in an instant, and they split in two.

A shift in the wind brought a familiar scent to Sesshomaru's nose. 'By some grace of God my half brother still lives. Very well, I shall rectify that.' Sesshomaru turned toward the scent and began at a leisurely pace toward our heroes.

-------

Wednesday night was morning now as they walked on in the rain. The birds screamin' in his ear were drivin' InuYasha insane. Half the clouds were empty now, so the sun burst through the sky. The puddles showed the reflection of a face about to die.

'Godamn Kikyo.. disappearing and making me drink so much.. Godamn, my head... and these FUCKING BIRDS WON'T SHUT UP!' InuYasga and Kagome had spent the night in a road house before heading back to town via a muddy dirt road.

Kagome walked around him, trying to find the driest path. InuYasha trudged straight forward, hand around his dyin' head, through puddle, mud, hell or highwater. A particularly loud call from somewhere on the right added to the violence exploding in his head.

'Godamn, when did it get so fucking bright out? Godamn sun...' He stepped in a puddle and cold water came up to his knee. 'Godamn puddles.' A mess of feathers flew in front of him and screamed his name. He reached for a rock and yelled after it. "SHUT THE FUCK UP! FUCKING RATS WITH WINGS!" He whipped the rock toward the next call.

He stopped for a moment and let the after effects of his out burst play hell on his head. "Mother fucker..." he grumbled and flattened his ears against his head. Kagome giggled. InuYasha tilted his head enough to focus an eye on her. "What the fuck's so funny, girl?" "Nothing, the way ya moved yer ears, ya looked like.." She trailed off. InuYasha reflected that a sit would finish him off in this state, and growled at her.

Up ahead, the road took a right turn into town. Someone else was coming just around the corner. They were goin' round the bend when they ran into the staggerin' fool.

The man swaggered drunkenly and bumped into InuYasha. "Outta me way." he snarled, pushing the man back. The man looked shocked, but quickly recovered. He leaned forward, squintin' at InuYasha. "You.. I know yer name.." He began, pointing. "Yer InuYasha right?" "What of it?" "Name's Myouga." "Myouga? Aye, I heard about ya." "Listen, I got somethin' to tell ya." The man looked around, searching for eavesdroppers, "But it ain't safe to talk 'ere, spies an' the like ya know."

Apparently, it was safe to talk in a bar. He bought himself a whiskey and his face began to glow. "I knew yer dad, I worked for him for years!" "That right?" InuYasha asked, trying to create a buffer between his brain and too small skull with a whiskey of his own. Kagome was using the rest to use the bathroom.

"Yeah, he told me to tell ya somethin' when I found ya too.." The man trailed off. "Fuck, can't remember it at the moment. Well, anyway, the name's Myouga." He said motioning for another. "Ah!" He exclaimed, his memory jarred by a shot. "He wanted you to find something!" "Find what?" InuYasha asked, his achin' head starting to go numb. "A.. weapon or something. Well the important thing is ya find it!" "So, where is it?"

Myouga stared blankly forward. "Ahh.. damn. There was a poem or something..." "A poem?" InuYasha asked, looking through his empty glass. "Somethin' about a.. black rock.. an'.. seeing but not seen.. right, above the nose... Ah fuck it." "Nice work, Myouga." "Well, he was your dad! You should know!" "How should I? He died before I could remember anythin'!"

When a mental challenge reared its ugly head, they sat there, two men without an answer like two dogs without a bone.

Four shots later, Myouga again remembered. Or was drunk off his ass and made something up. Either way, he led them out of the bar and back onto the road.

Sesshomaru watched them leave. He had heard the whole conversation. He had considered killing them, but decided instead to try and unravel Myouga's ramblings.

Five minutes, later he had an idea where. It was a long shot, but better than anything he had heard yet. He got up and left, slipping the small deep green jewel that had kept his scent hidden in his pocket.

---

"Where the hell are we going?" InuYasha demanded, as the banes of his existance began to sqawk again. "To a town a mile or two away! They got some kinda black rock." "You better be right about this." InuYasha mumbled, falling a small distance behind Myouga.

Kagome picked this time to catch up with him. "So, you believe this guy?" "Yeah. I've heard his name before actually." "From who?" "My ma." It took a moment for this to sink into Kagome's head. "You.. have parents?" "Of course I do!" Kagome had always assumed he was built in a factory, or had just appeared somewhere with a pack of smokes and his switch. "He used to work for my dad." InuYasha informed her. "So where are your parents?"

"Well, if ya went from my old home, about fifty feet south and six feet straight down." He said picking up the pace and moving away from Kagome.

----

"The town's called Black Rock actually, it's not a real rock." The pedestrian had informed them. InuYasha tried real hard not to kill Myouga. "Unless you mean the black dog.." He began. "The what?" Kagome asked. "The black dog. A demon around these parts has been attacking travelers. Only at night though. The victims had their hamstrings and throats slit like a dog attacked them. We called him the black dog. He hasn't really been bothering us, but a traveler just passed through saying he saw a large dog outside of town."

"This is his territory.." Kagome heard InuYasha mutter under his breath. Before she could question him, he turned to the man. "Where did he see it?" He asked coldly. "I'm not going out there, but I can point it out to you." He said, pointing toward a hill with a single boulder on it.

"Let's go." InuYasha said, heading for the boulder. "I'm going to stay here, if you don't mind. I'm not the fighting type." Myouga said in fear. "Fine." InuYasha spat, not even turning his head.

InuYasha knelt down beside the boulder and sniffed the ground. He had smelt it before he got there, but he made sure. He stood up and let out a low angry growl. Kagome could see his hair begin to rise. He balled up a fist and punched the boulder, cracking it. "It's him..." He growled in hatred. "Who?" Kagome asked.

InuYasha turned around and look behind Kagome at his brother. "Sesshomaru..." 


	15. The Likes of You Again, Part II

InuYasha made the first move toward his brother. Sesshomaru seemed to slide out of the way. As InuYasha flew past him, he turned and kicked the half demon in the side, sending him flying into the boulder. As he bounced off, Sesshomaru slammed into InuYasha, pinning him to the rock with one arm.

InuYasha flicked his wrist and drove his knife towards his brother's gut. Sesshomaru caught it in his other hand. He looked at the struggling half demon and asked coldly, "What brings you to believe what you're looking for is here?" InuYasha redoubled his efforts to knife his brother. "We heard ya were dancing at that new gay joint and thought you knew."

Sesshomaru slammed his brother into the rock. InuYasha used the energy from bouncing off the rock to bring his legs up and plant his boots in Sesshomaru's stomach. The demon slid back, then slammed InuYasha into the rock harder, this time holding the Sykes-Fairbairn to his throat.

"I'll ask again. What do you know that led you here?" "I know there was some guy dressed like an Indian asking around for ya." InuYasha grinned, blood running out the corner of his mouth.

Sesshomaru punched his brother in the head. InuYasha's skull cracked against the rock, leaving a small blood stain, and he went down hard. Sesshomaru's attention turned to the girl, who was staring at the scene in fear. 'Maybe my brother would like to wake up next to the body of his woman.' Sesshomaru thought, advancing on Kagome. 'No. I'll let him watch. And hear.' Sesshomaru brought the girl down with the slightest of effort.

InuYasha woke up in an awful state and found hi self at Peter's gate. "Huh, guess the bastard finally did me in. About damn time too.." InuYasha muttered as he pushed himself to his feet.

St. Peter looked up from the book of life, or whatever he was reading and just stared at InuYasha. "Oh come on! I had good damn reason to do those things!" St. Peter leaned forward on his desk.

"I've been much amused watchin' the life ya have abused." St. Peter said, making a dismissive gesture. "Best be on your way, but have a drink before ya go."

---

InuYasha blinked his eyes open. There was a blurry face above him, and some one was shaking him, which was only agitating the whale in his head.'Goals in life; Find scared jewel, become demon. Find Kikyo. Find cure for hang over.'

"Well I'll be damned. I'm back..." InuYasha muttered as the face cleared up into Kagome. He sat up and clutched his head. "Mother fucker.. " He gazed around the area through a gap between his fingers.

"Where'd my faggot brother get to?" "I don't know, I woke up and here we were." InuYasha stood up and looked around. "He's still around. Dumb bastard's hoping we'll find it so he don't have to." "Well, what are we gonna do about him?" "Fuck 'im. He can keep the damned thing." "You mean ya don't care?" "Not really. I was hopin' for a thrill when I agreed. Now it's some damn puzzle. Fuck that. But, let's inconvenience the bastard and let him follow us around for a while."

The walk back to the bike was uneventful, and they set out on the road.

That night found the two in a road house. As Kagome slept InuYasha once again reached for his flask.

'Just my fucking luck.' He thought, taking a swig of Old Bushmill's. 'I got to deal with fuckin' Kikyo, with the fuckin' jewel, the fucking girl.. now on top of ALLL that shit, I got my fucking faggot ass chocolate ramming brother involved. And the girl wonders why I'm so fucking rritable.' InuYasha took a long drag from his tar. 'Fuck.'

'Well, I survived another day. That calls for a drink. Now if only I had a good reason to wake up tomorrow. I got too much shit to deal with for ANYTHING in the forseeable future not to suck. Hell, the only one not out to kill me is the girl.'

'Who cares. Right now I got all I need. A good whiskey, a smoke, and I'm too damn wasted to give a fuck about anything.' InuYasha let out a slowlaugh.

'Fuck it. I should just drop the girl off somewhere and head off alone. Fuck the jewel. Just keep rolling, keep ridin' til I find what's right. Yeah.'

Kagome had woken up when he laughed, and now sat up and looked over at InuYasha. 'Drunk again. I know he hasn't had the easiest life, but does he really have to drink so much?' She thought with a sigh.

"InuYasha.." Kagome began. InuYasha rolled his head toward her. "Yo." Kagome looked at his face. He was really wasted. she scowled. "How long have you been drinking?" "Since I was 12.." Kagome shook her head.

"You drink too much." "Nah I don't. Some people drink too much coffee, I drink too much stout. It's all the same. 'Sides," InuYasha took another drink. "If anyone in this world deserves to be an alcoholic, it's me." "I suppose you're not gonna tell me why.." "Why bother? No one fucking cares. That's the thing, people who fucking care. Why couldn't she fucking let me die in peace? Nah, she had to set me up first, think someone fuckin' cares, then fuckin' kill me.."

InuYasha stared into his flask before he seemed to realize he had spoken out loud and that Kagome was there. He sat up in shock, hastily staggered to his feet and out the door.

Kagome heard him retch and then a dull thud as he hit the ground. 'Damn it..' She thought, feeling as if she had lost a battle. She went out the door and found his flask still in his hand. She picked the damned thing up and tossed it into the night.

-----

Someone kicked InuYasha in the ribs. He opened his eyes and found himself staring at a pair of shoes. "Ah fuck." He grumbled. He turned his head to look up at his brother. Sesshomaru reached down and hualed him to his feet.

InuYasha once again tried to knife his brother and was thwarted again. "You know, brother," Sesshomaru began, lifting his brother off the ground by the collar "It took me a long time to decipher that old fool's drunken rambling, but I do believe I figured it out." "Fascinating. You didn't travel all this way to tell me that piece of news, so I assume they legalized gay marriage too. Lucky day for you." Sesshomaru let his brother finish before nearly dislocating his jaw.

"As I was saying, I finally figured out where it was. Unfortunately for you, getting there is a bit complicated. And less than painless."

Kagome was watching through a crack in the door. Sesshomaru raised his hand up to InuYasha's right eye. A spark of lightning shot from his finger into InuYasha's eye. He grimaced in pain as electricity flowed into his eye.

Kagome watched as InuYasha began to clench his fists. Something began to be pulled out from the half demon's eye. Something round and black. 'That's not his.. No, I can't be!'

Half of InuYasha's vision disappeared. He was dropped and toppled to the ground. He threw his hand over his eye, which was still burning in agony, and pushed himself to his feet in time to see his brother disappear into some swirling vortex. 'Bullshit. Fucking bullshit.'

Kagome ran to InuYasha and helped him up. He let his hand fall and Kagome stared at his right eye. It was pure gold. Impossible as it was, he had no pupil.

"Stay here." InuYasha said, trying to find the girl with his remaining eye. "C'mon! Let's go!" She called, and InuYasha's eye widened in surprise as he saw the girl walking toward the vortex.  
-  
A/N: To answer the questions of Satcha.

1) Because I like guns & knives.

2) I acctaully never thought about this.. Just the way I want her to talk I guess...

3) Yeah they did, but I thought adding a extra "They seached through the rubble and found the jewel" paragraph woulda broken the flow of the chapter, so I left it assumed. 


	16. The Likes of You Again, Part III

A/N: If you can't figure out who I more or less stole this episode from, you suck.  
---------

Me first." InuYasha snarled, pulling Kagome out of the vortex and jumping in first. He was going to get that bastard first.Everything went black as he jumped in, and his feet hit solid ground. The first thing that hit him was the scent of the place. He tried to block out the ever present smell of death and fire.  
The girl came through behind him. Immediately, she covered her nose. "Jesus! What is this place?" "A grave." InuYasha replied, looking around. They were on a brick path that lead through a marsh. Fog clung low to the ground. The smell seemed to have no source. "If there is a hell, I'm sure this is how it smells.." InuYasha muttered.  
"A grave? Whose?" "My dad's most likely." "But you said he was buried-" "I say a lot of things." InuYasha interrupted. Over the damned smell, he could pick up his brother's scent. They had to catch him, quickly.  
"I don't like this place, I got a weird feeling about it.." Kagome said. "You don't like it? I'm in my own eye. How do you think I feel?" InuYasha replied as he knelt down. "Climb on"  
As InuYasha stood up, Kagome on his back, he stopped suddenly and looked around in suspicion. "What's wrong?" Kagome asked quietly. "I don't hear a thing.." InuYasha whispered, his ears scanning the world.  
Nothing. Not the sound of wild life the in background, no grass moved in the breeze. Nothing. The only sound that reached his ears was the girl's heartbeat and their breathing. This world, what ever it was, was dead. InuYasha shook his head and set of at a sprint.  
Within moments, the road ended at the doors of a large cathedral. The doors lay open, the inside dimly lit by the large stained glass windows. InuYasha set Kagome down and walked cautiously into the church.  
The doors creaked shut of their own accord. A quick sniff of the air told him that the girl was inside, and that his brother's scent filled the church.  
Stone carvings filled the walls. Large stain glass windows spilled light in. A single cross shaped window let bright light spill in the aisles between the pews. The large stain glass window stood behind a balcony high above the alter. The bright out line was broken by the dark silhouette of a marble cross. Something was draped over the cross's arms.  
Sesshomaru was no where to be seen, hiding in the shadows. InuYasha looked around and scowled. He didn't know where to search. He was a tourist here.  
He sent a glance toward Kagome. She got the message and hid in the shadows.  
InuYasha began to walk up the aisle, toward what ever was draped over the cross. A cold voice echoed through the building. "You're careless InuYasha." InuYasha stopped and slowly scanned the shadows, hands in pockets. He lifted his voice up to every inch of the building. He could of almost swore he heard an organ playing, a phantom from the cathedral's past. "Stop hiding. You know I'll hear you coming the moment you attack." "You can. But your new human can't." The voice betrayed no intent of action. InuYasha looked toward the shadows he had left Kagome in. Kagome saw him debate action for a moment before he snapped his head back and called out angrily. "Don't think a human girl is possibly worth delaying this, Sesshomaru." "A year ago you would have said different"  
Silence. Then, "Stop hiding coward! Face me like a man!" Foot steps echoed through the darkness. Sesshomoru strode into the light.  
The two brothers stared at each other. Someone flinched. There was a clash of metal and dull yellow sparks filled the air. The demon's sought each other's throats. Knives thrust only to be met by another blade. Sesshomaru swung, a bright green line of acid ripped into InuYasha's leg. InuYasha responded with a slash of his own that was easily deflected.  
The half demon pushed forward with out a rest. The switch blade constantly probed and sought openings. Sesshomaru cooly defended him self, waiting for his brother to slip up before making a strike.  
InuYasha twisted in air, and a line of acid went wide, slicing into the wall near where Kagome hid. The girl ran along the side of the church, toward the large stain glass window at the front.  
The two blades glinted in the light. Kagome only glanced briefly at the two demons. She knew there was nothing she could do. Her gaze happened to catch the marble cross above her. And hanging form it was.. 'Is that? Here? Is that what we're looking for?' Kagome searched frantically for the stairs.  
The two demon's broke apart. InuYasha was panting heavily, his leg bleeding. Sesshomaru stared at him coldly, not a hint of exhaustion on his features. "Bastard.." InuYasha panted. "Mongrel"  
The demons once again drove at each other's throats.  
Kagome stood on the balcony and looked at the cross. Draped over it was a pistol belt. A revolver hung in a holster under each arm of the cross. Kagome slowly reached for one. 'I can help him. I did it before with that bird, and I can do it again. Besides, Sesshomoru's bigger than a bird..' She pulled a pistol from it's holster. The sound of metal sliding against leather seemed lost in clash of metal below.  
The pistol was lighter than she thought it would be. She rushed toward the stairs.  
Something hit the balcony behind her as she entered the stair well. Kagome whipped around to see InuYasha push him self to his feet just in time to avoid a killing stroke from his brother.  
Sesshomaru swung his foot a high arc, catching InuYasha's wrist. The switch blade flew from the half demon's hand and off the balcony.  
In a instant InuYasha found him self staring into a pair of eyes as cold as the knife pressed to his throat.  
A triangle of green light fell over InuYasha's pupil less right eye. Silence reigned. Kagome suddenly realized it was now or never. She took aim.  
"What's the hold up?" InuYasha asked pointedly. "Eager to die little brother?" A smile spread over the half demon's face. "You can't kill me, I died a long time ago"  
After a moment of silence, Sesshomaru spoke. "Your new human isn't as bright as the other one. She is trying to shoot me with an unloaded, de cocked fire arm"  
InuYasha let his eyes wander toward Kagome. He almost groaned. 'Goddamn girl.' "Tell me, InuYasha" The half demon's eyes snapped toward his brother. "Should I kill her first, or would she like to see you die first?" 'Goddamn this girl!' InuYasha swore mentally.  
Sesshomaru hit his brother hard in the chest, winding the half demon. In an instant he was upon the girl. He snatched the revolver from her hand. "Next time, make sure you know what you're doing." He scolded.  
The demon walked back to his brother, removing several .45 Long Colt rounds from his pocket and loading the pistol. As InuYasha pushed him self up, Sesshomaru placed the revolver to his face and pulled back the hammer.  
InuYasha stared down the barrel at his brother. "Again you hesitate. What the hell?" "It does not seem to want to work for me. Strange, that a human girl could draw it, yet I cannot fire it." "Fascinating." Sesshomaru dropped the pistol and reached for his knife. InuYasha was quicker. The half demon rocked back and kicked his brother in the chest. The demon went toppling over the edge and hit the ground floor.  
InuYasha scrambled and picked up the revolver. His brother was going to be back any moment. He rushed to Kagome. "Stay the fuck down, and let me fucking protect you, or you'll get us both killed"  
InuYasha stormed back to the edge of the balcony, and stood on the railing, looking for his brother.  
A flash of light shot straight at the half demon. Two hands grasped around his throat. He fell back. InuYasha stared into his brother's murderous eyes as his back slammed into the floor. InuYasha rolled backward. Sesshomaru's back was the to window.  
InuYasha jammed the pistol into his brother's shoulder.  
A brief second of understanding seemed to pass between to the two. InuYasha pulled the trigger. A gun shot echoed through the cathedral. The glass shattered. A thousand shards of light glistened in mid air. Sesshomaru howled in pain.

InuYasha pushed him self to his feet. Out the window, he could smell his brother fleeing. An arm lay at his feet. InuYasha spat out the window. "And we'll never see the likes of you again!" He yelled after his brother, knowing full well how wrong he was. He walked back to the cross andgrabbed the pistol belt. Kagome walked out of the stair well and into the bright light pouring in through the shattered window.  
"Let's get the fuck outta here."

As they stepped out of the vortex, it closed up behind them, condesing back into InuYasha's pupil. The black stone shot back into the half demon's eye. "Mother fucker!" "Well, at least that won't happen again." Kagome said. "Still hurt like hell though.." InuYasha trailed off, testing his vision.  
Seeing everything was in place, InuYasha headed back to the Electra Glide. Kagome climbed on behind him, and they set off on the road again.  
InuYasha was moving the bike faster than normal. Much faster. kagome tried to, but couldn't seem to find the handles underneath her seat. She loked at InuYasha's back in thought. 'Fuck it. We travel like that on foot, why not.' Kagome moved on the seat and slipped her arms around InuYasha's waist. He gave no indication he noticed. As the world whipped by, Kagome reflected. 'Did he really say what I thought he did back there?' 


	17. Flick of the Switch

The night after the fight with Sesshomaru, InuYasha and Kagome had once again camped out on the side of the road. Kagome sat next to her bag and rubbed her sore back. InuYasha examined the revolvers in the firelight.  
They were a pair of black Colt Single Action Army revolvers. One was empty; the other had five rounds left in it. InuYasha stuck the loaded one in his jeans at the small of his back. He tossed the unloaded Peacemaker and the pistol belt into a saddle bag. Damn thing looked stupid. "Umm InuYasha..." Kagome said with concern. "What?" He asked turn to her, she had her bag open. "We're out of food." "Do we have water?" "Yeah. We still have a lot of water." "Then we're fine. We can go until the next town." "How long is that?" "Day, day and a half maybe." Kagome let out a loud groan. "Oh quit your whining." "SIT!"

The next day happened to be the first oppressively hot day of summer. Kagome winced as she down on the heated leather seat of the Electra Glide. "It's not that bad!" InuYasha said in front of her, lighting up. "For you! I'm wearing a skirt! That means there is NOTHING between my skin and the seat!" InuYasha was strangely silent on this point.  
The sun continued to beat down the pair as the day progressed. By noon Kagome was leaning around InuYasha to stick her head into the breeze. She told InuYasha to stop so she could get a canteen from her bag. InuYasha grumbled but complied.  
It began to cool down as the sun set. Kagome wiped her brow and leaned back on her bag. InuYasha stopped on top of a hill to place his bandanna over his ears. The world had a dark blue light to it as Kagome stared out at the lights of the town sprawled out ahead of them. InuYasha lit another smoke. They pulled into the town. It was large, the largest one they had come across yet. It was easily two or three city blocks wide.  
They stopped at a road house and Kagome tossed her bag inside. "Alright! Let's get some food!" Kagome said cheerfully. She turned to InuYasha. "How much money do you have?" InuYasha stared at her. "I thought you had money..." He mumbled around his cigarette. The two stared at each other for a moment. "Fuck! Alright, we gotta find work..." InuYasha said surveying the town. Lanterns were stung between the buildings and people filled the streets. "Alright, this place seems too alive, shouldn't be hard to find work. We'll split up. Meet back here when you find work or give up." He said walking away. "Wait! How am I supposed to find work?" Kagome cried after him. "I dunno. Use your female charms or something."

Kagome looked around. 'Well crap. What do I do now? I'll walk around for a bit, she what I can find.' She thought settling the direction with the most people. As wandered around, she wondered if there were any land marks she could hang around. 'Nope. I don't know anyone or anything here. And they don't know me. Guess I don't have to be home on time either.' Kagome smiled to her self. 'Wait a minute; does my family even know where I am? If I'm still alive? Crap. They don't. I have no family out here. No one really cares about me. And no one really cares what I do then. I can go where ever the fuck I want, do what ever I please and no one would care.' Kagome smiled. 'Awesome.'

InuYasha found a seat at one of the seedier bars he could find. His ears searched for conversations of interest under his bandanna. One in particular caught his attention.  
"What are we gonna do about them?" Three men were sitting at a table in the back. "What can we do? They'd kill us in a fight. We just have to hide, let them run amuck, and hope we survive." "We have to do SOMETHING or soon there won't be a town left!" A switchblade slammed into their table, point first. The men looked up startled at a golden eyed youth smiling down at them maliciously. "So, you need someone taking care of?"

When Kagome showed up at the road house, InuYasha was leaning against the outside wall, smoking. "Get any money?" He asked with out looking up. "Nothing. Three people thought I was a hooker though..." "Well, you take them up on it?" "NO!" "Well why not? And people are watching so think twice about sitting me." "HOW CAN YOU EVEN FUCKING ASK THAT? I OUGHT TO KILL YOU TONIGHT!" InuYasha grinned. "Well, while you wandering around, I did something with my summer and got a job.' "Yeah? So you got food?" "Err... the job doesn't pay till tommorow..." Kagome sighed. "Alright, what's the job?" InuYasha looked around the street, which still held people. He jerked his head toward the door and slipped inside the road house.  
The road house was dark. InuYasha sat down against a wall and started talking as Kagome got her sleeping bag ready. "Well, apparently, tomorrow about noon, a bunch of dickheads are planning on attacking the town. I'm stopping them. And that's the job." He concluded, grinding his cigarette against the dirt.

Noon. The town was dead. InuYasha stood in the middle of the town. He looked bored. Kagome watched from inside the road house. InuYasha twirled a smoke between his fingers. Suddenly he looked up and around. He stuck the smoke in mouth and walked to the center of the street.  
For a moment nothing happened. Then several voices became audible. Several young men appeared in the road, swearing loudly at each other. They stopped ten feet in front of InuYasha. "Whose this cock sucker!" One yelled. InuYasha stared at each one of them. "Must be hot in that jacket, huh, fucker? Why don't we relive you of it?" The one in the center of the group yelled.  
Someone on the left pulled out a sidearm and began to advance on InuYasha. The half demon dropped his smoke and smothered it with his boot.  
The man with the gun was right in front of InuYasha. "Hand it over asshole." With a flick of the switch, InuYasha killed him.

Some of the group gasped and reached for their side arms. The one in the center grinned. "So some one wants to stand up for what's right. About time if you ask me... but it won't be that easy"  
"I know about your friends scattered around town, shit spit." InuYasha grinned. "What"  
InuYasha rushed the group. As he passed through them he dipped his knife into someone's throat. As he passed the leader he muttered "Thanks for making this fun." Before turning around and jamming the knife into his back. The leader let out a cry of pain and hit the dirt.  
InuYasha ripped the knife from his back and slammed a foot into someone's chest. A body slammed into a nearby building, smashing a wall in. A gun shot exploded behind him. InuYasha whipped around and slit a throat.  
More gun fire sounded behind him. InuYasha leapt high into the air. As he came down he stuck his feet out and aimed for a group of people. Dust flew up. InuYasha felt bone shatter beneath his boot. He looked up to see a shape moving in the dust, he punched the knife into its chest. He spun around and punched someone hard in the jaw.  
InuYasha looked around, found it clear and leapt out of the dust, only to find him self surrounded by men with rifles.

"So. You cock holsters wanna fight?" InuYasha called, spinning the knife in his fingers. There were groups of men on each street of the four way intersection, as well as several in the windows of buildings. His answer was automatic weapons fire. InuYasha was closing ground with the group in his path before the first bullet struck the ground.  
In an instant InuYasha was among them, slashing and striking at anything that moved. Bullets ripped apart the ground and anyone who happened to get caught in the crossfire. Some missed entirely and ripped into homes.  
The first group lie dead. Fire poured in from the upper windows of a two story building. InuYasha leapt through the air and slammed easily through the wooden wall.  
Wood flew everywhere. People scrambled around. InuYasha kicked a gunman pushing him self to his feet. He went flying. More wood cracked. InuYasha swung and his fist slammed into something. Wood continued to crack as bodies flew. The building groaned. InuYasha flew out one of the holes in the wall as the building collapsed on its neighbor. Dust filled the air and InuYasha was headed straight for another group.  
The knife plunged into a neck. Blood flowed. InuYasha let go of the knife, the man stumbled back, gasping at his neck. Someone had his back to InuYasha; he grabbed the poor bastard and snapped his neck. InuYasha's arm flew back and grasped the hilt of the knife. He ripped it out of the man's neck and slammed it into someone's eye.  
Bullets ripped apart the smoke. InuYasha couldn't see the muzzle flashes through the dust. He slammed through a nearby wall and took cover. The building was occupied by a frightened family. There was a propane grill on the side of the room. The whole town was filled with smoke. Through a window InuYasha could see figures closing in on him. InuYasha looked around and ripped the two tanks off the grill. He busted out the wall toward the people advancing on him. He rolled both tanks toward them.  
InuYasha reached for the revolver in the small of his back and took aim at the retreating shape of one of the tanks. He shot it, an explosion ripped through the smoke. InuYasha caught sight of the other tank being thrown, flaming, through the air.  
As it turned out, the second tank landed at a gas station before it ignited. The explosion shook the whole town, destroying three homes.

InuYasha searched the air for the scent of gun oil. He found it and rushed head long through the smoke. The last of them didn't stand a chance.  
InuYasha wandered back to the middle of the town. He surveyed his work. About twenty gun men were dead; six buildings had collapsed so far, the gas station had been blown to hell, and the surrounding homes were either demolished or on fire. Numerous other homes had been shot up in the crossfire. "Godamn. I haven't had a fight that fun in a while. Now... where's that asshole whose gonna pay me..." He wondered aloud. Something clicked behind him. InuYasha turned around, the whole town was gathered, weapons in hand.  
"You bastard! Your worse then fucking them!" Someone yelled. "Ah shit..." InuYasha grumbled, noticing there were a good deal more of them then there were gunmen.

InuYasha came out of no where and landed next to Kagome. "Get on the bike dammit!" "What happened?" "I'll explain later! Let's go!"

InuYasha sped out of the ruin of the town. Several people took pot shots at them. InuYasha hit the dirt road fast and nearly lost his balance turning on the Kilburn High Road.  
InuYasha picked up the sound of an engine behind him. "Fuck!" He swore turning around. They were following the two in a black sedan. Someone leaned out a window, shot gun in hand. InuYasha drew his revolver. Making sure he was on a straight section of road he turned around and took aim, Kagome leaned out of his way quickly. The shot gun blared. InuYasha pulled back the hammer and fired at the driver. The gunman charged the shot gun. InuYasha fired again. A second shot gun blast roared out. InuYasha fired until the pistol was empty. "Shit!' InuYasha swore just in time to turn the next bend. The sedan however didn't turn. It kept on barreling straight ahead. InuYasha laughed in triumph.

"Let me get this right." Kagome said blandly as she sat on her sleeping bag, staring into the camp fire. "All that, and we still don't have any money." "Yeah." InuYasha replied emotionlessly. "And when's the next town?" "Err... I don't know really..." "Sit InuYasha"  
Kagome stared into the fire for a second longer before her stomach let out a low gurgle. "I'm so hungry." She complained, falling over on her bag. 


	18. The Rising

"I'm hungry." Kagome stared blandly. The sun beat down harshly on the two of them. Since InuYasha blew it up, they hadn't been able to use the gas station at the last town. The bike sat useless five miles behind them. "We have water. That's what's important." InuYasha replied just as blandly. "You can go weeks with out food. After the third day, you won't even feel it anymore." He said wiping the sweat off his brow. "You've been in this boat before haven't you?" "Yeah"  
Time passed. Maybe minutes, maybe hours. "Hey, InuYasha." "Yeah?" "We could move faster if you carried me." "Fuck you. It's a million degrees and it's hot enough with this damned jacket on my back." "There would be more breeze if you moved faster.." "Hell with you"  
Kagome stopped. "You know InuYasha, it occurs to me. If you hadn't been so damn destructive, we would have food now. And gas. And an extra night under a roof. But here we are, sweating to death, we haven't eaten in two days, and we have to walk until we find a town, which will be God knows when. And all because you have to be a damned walking, talking one-man LANDSLIDE'  
Both parties stopped and were silent. Kagome wiped her brow. InuYasha panted. "Yeah? What's your point?" He drawled out.  
"My point, InuYasha, is after all the shit I have to deal with because of you, you owe me this one." InuYasha looked over his shoulder. There was a stare down. InuYasha spat on the ground.  
"Ahh.. Much better, don't you agree?" Kagome asked. InuYasha spat out a curse. "Ah cheer up, we'll be at the next town soon enough." InuYasha mumbled something. "What was that?" "Just a curse on your soul." "Glad to hear it. Speed up will you?"

After traveling for maybe half an hour, InuYasha stopped suddenly. "What's the hold up?" Kagome asked. "Heads up." Was all InuYasha offered before dropping her on her ass. "Ow! Asshole!" "Town up ahead. You gotta walk from now on." "That was no reason to drop me!" "I said heads up." "And I say sit"  
InuYasha pushed him self up swearing. He dropped the gas can, which was a pain in the ass to carry around with the girl on his back, to cover his ears.

The two travelers drifted into town. Heat radiated off the road, causing the road ahead of them to shimmer. One thing Kagome immediately noticed was the town was more built up then most towns around here. InuYasha noticed it too.  
"Damn, this isn't right." He mumbled to him self. "It shouldn't be this built up, not this close to the bad lands.. Oh fuck, that's right, we're close to a city now." "A city?" Kagome's attention was captured. "Yeah, a big one." "You think it might be mine?" "How the hell should I know?" "We're stopping there!" "It's out of our way." "We're stopping there!" "We ain't got time!" "Time? Since when do we have a schedule"  
InuYasha glared at her for a moment. "You win this one, but I still oppose it." "Yeah yeah"  
"Alright, gas station." InuYasha stopped. "You find food or shelter or something, I'll fill up, run back to the bike and bring it up here." InuYasha sauntered over to the gas station and took up position on the side of the pump opposite the station and filled up the gas can. Then walked off with out paying.  
Kagome shook her head. "Do you pay for anything?" "All I've got, I've had to steal." "Do you have any morales at all?" "Hey, at least I don't have to beg or borrow." Kagome just shook her head. "Go get the damn bike." InuYasha turned to leave. "Wait!" Kagome called. "Where are we going to meet up?" "Don't worry, I'll look around when I get back, then hunt you out." InuYasha said, taping his nose. "And when you DO find me.." Kagome began seriously. "Yeah?" "You better not be drunk, here me? I'm tired of watching you fall down." InuYasha smirked and turned back to the road.

It was sunset when InuYasha stared walking. It had all worked out perfectly. He'd be out of town and away from everyone when the sun went down. He'd stay at the Harley until day break, and not be back till morning. No one would see. He'd run when he couldn't see the town anymore. For now he walked along the side of the road. He stuck a smoke in his mouth and searched for his lighter. An old Ford passed him by, heading the way they had walked in. They must be close to a city, that was the first piece of traffic he'd seen between towns in a long while. It began to cool down a lot. Behind him the town was alive with people.  
He took off his jacket for the first time in a long while. He let the air cool off his arms as the sun went down. The hunger didn't bother him anymore. Hell, he almost relaxed.  
Soon the world had turned back. InuYasha looked back. The lights of the town were in a cluster a way off. There was no moon that night. There was the sound of an engine ahead of him. He turned back to the road. The silver hair youth was illuminated by a pair of headlights. The Ford was coming back. InuYasha watched it pass. Looked like an early '70s Mustang. InuYasha whistled. The tail lights disappeared, and the world was black. If the driver had looked in his rear view mirror, he would of seen a black haired young man watch him.  
InuYasha started running. He took the bandanna off his head. It was so dark he couldn't see what was ahead of him, couldn't see what was coming up behind. He made his way through the darkness. He made his way onto the road, guided only by the feel of asphalt under his heels.  
Fires appeared in the distance. InuYasha ran faster. Several small fires on the road. There was the sound of thunder. The sky had been clear during the day.  
InuYasha stood alone in the middle of the fires. The highway was crammed with broken wrecks. A group of humans had been traveling together when something got them. 'Strange, that what got these poor bastards hasn't destroyed that town'  
InuYasha looked around, his face carrying an orange glow from the fires that lit the night. He shifted through some wreckage. He found something to amuse him self while he waited for day break. InuYasha had found a bottle of whiskey and a guitar. He strapped the Telecaster on his back and took a swig.

InuYasha started running again. He had lost track of how far he'd gone. The road began to slope upward. InuYasha ran harder. His jacket was draped across his arm and both his hands were full. The guitar, the cross of his calling, bounced on his back. He didn't care. He was sweating but couldn't feel any of it. All he could feel was the chains that bound him to his obligations. The gas can that bound him to the girl and to finding the jewel. The guitar and the history behind it that bound him to Kikyo. The bottle that bound him to his own demons. The jacket that symbolized in his mind his connected him to his family affairs, to settling the score with his brother. He ran faster, trying to break the chains, trying to be rid off all this shit. Trying to be free.  
Something glinted on the side of the road ahead of him. The bike. 'Keep running, drop all this shit and keep running.' Part of his mind told him. 'Just drop it and walk away. Leave this land and start over. Who cares what happens to everyone? You'll be gone and never hear of them again'  
The bike was growing closer. InuYasha stopped in front of it. The world was still totally dark. Nothing else seemed to be alive. 'That's right. Nothing. It's about you. Not them. Fuck 'em. Run.' InuYasha tossed his jacket and gas can at the bike. He set the bottle down and took the guitar off his back. He slumped down against the side of the bike and angrily hit a chord.  
"God fucking dammit.." He swore. "Fucking hate being human! I end up being so fucking melodramatic and can't keep my head level and can't drink worth a shit!" He took a swig.  
He started into a song and continued to swear to himself. "Godamn it, what am I doing here. These are my fucking glory days, I shouldn't be stuck on this stupid fucking quest, hell not even fuckin' Kagome should, she should be at home, I should be wandering around with Kikyo still. Fuck"  
"I fucking waste my life with this shit, and the glory days'll pass me by, in a wink of a young girl's eye.." InuYasha chuckled.

By the end of the song, InuYasha was half way through the label on the bottle. He picked a new song. He continued drinking. Soon he looked up, and for a split second second he thought he saw a familiar pair of black eyes looking at him.  
He sighed. "Where are ya babe? Where are ya Kik'?" InuYasha closed his eyes and let his head slump forward. Ghosts of his past began dancing around him. InuYasha had no idea what the affect of that much liquor would be on human body, but felt him self losing control of where his mind went. He satred up at the sky. 'Sky of blackness and sorrow, sky of tears and sadness. Sky of blackness and sorrow.'

InuYasha finger's were moving of there own accord along the fret board. Something in his brain gave him the impression that Kikyo was in front of him. Something also told him she wasn't. He didn't know. "I hated you, when you were away." He told the ghost in front of him. There was a flash of light behind Kikyo's eyes. He couldn't tell if he hallucinating or if he was thinking of Kikyo. The ghost faded. InuYasha got a better look at the flash of light. It was two people, riding a storm cloud, shooting lighting from there hands. And they were headed toward the town he had left Kagome in.  
InuYasha chuckled. He was proud of him self. That was a damn good hallucination. Most people couldn't do that with just liquor, not to mention make it look so real. InuYasha stuck his legs out, one slightly bent. He leaned over the guitar and smiled. 'One last line for Kikyo, even if she can't hear.' "Come on up, lay your hands in mine.." InuYasha sang and blacked out.

Kagome watched the black muscle car slam to a stop. Someone scrambled out. The driver ran for a nearby house, yelling. "We gotta leave! We gotta get outta here! Something's coming!" He disappeared down an alley and Kagome saw no more of him. The town was huge by comparison to the rest of the towns they had been in. The size of one of the suburbs back home. Big enough to have paved back streets and street lights. Kagome guessed it was home to a couple thousand people.  
It was past midnight. There were only a couple night hawks wandering the street. None of them looked like good news, but they all ignored her.  
That was all the life there was on the streets. Occasionally the glow of a gas station's sign was visible before the harsh light of a convience store. There was no where to get food, even if she knew what to do.  
Kagome stopped walking. She was tired, she was hungry. Her stomach no longer hurt, but she felt weak. She became away how much dirt was caked on to her. The rips and tears in her clothes became more apparent. No way she was going to charm her way into any food. She looked around at the people who were still awake. She sighed. Hopeless set in. She was in over her head. Broke, defenseless, starving, and alone in a strange part of the world. She had no idea what to do. Her feet carried her into a back street. She found a shadowed corner, and with out dignity laid down and fell asleep hungry and sore on the hard concrete.

For some reason InuYasha dreamed that night. He had a dream of life. Of Kikyo. Of everything he hadn't felt in years. Being human, it took him back. Almost raised him up from the dead. Kagome woke up. The first thing she saw was a figure sitting across the alley from her. It was late in the morning. The figure cleared up. It was InuYasha but Kagome barely recognized him with out his jacket. His jacket was draped over something hidden under a collapsed cardboard box. The bike stood at the entrance into the alleyway.  
"Yo." "Yo." The two exchanged greetings. "Tough night?" Kagome inquired, seeing InuYasha's tired gaze. "Same for you apparently. No food?" "No.." InuYasha stood up. "I'm going to get some extra gas. I'll be back in a few. Don't let anyone steal ya." He grabbed the now empty gas can and walked away. Kagome got up. The smell of food came from the street. Hunger returned with a vengeance. Her feet led her toward the street. She found her self in a street market. Carts held all sorts of fruits and vegetables. There was a cart of apples directly in front of her.  
'One apple won't matter. You're starving. You have to do it.' Her conscious put up no fight.  
It wasn't smooth. She walked by the cart, jammed her hand into the pile, grabbed something, put it in her pocket and kept walking. One apple turned into anything that would fit in her pockets. Five minutes later she was back in the alley. She slumped down against the wall where she had been sleeping and pulled out the apple. The light was blocked as InuYasha returned. Kagome looked up at him. He just looked back. Kagome looked down at the street and bit into the apple. InuYasha set the can down and sat down next to her. He brought up his right hand and offered her half a loaf of bread. Kagome took it with out question of where it came from. She emptied her pockets and the two divided their stolen meal.  
They ate mostly in silence. "Been through this a lot?" Kagome asked. InuYasha only nodded.

The food finished, InuYasha pushed him self to his feet. "I just thought of something, be right back." Kagome watched him disappear onto the street. Kagome felt a lot better. The meager meal has done wonders to improve her spirits. She stood up and stretched her legs. Bells were ringing somewhere.  
InuYasha walked out of the gun store with some ammo for the revolvers. He headed back to the bike and Kagome. As he was walking through a busy street, there was the sound of thunder. InuYasha stopped dead in his tracks and looked up. The sky was clear blue except for a single black cloud. "What the hell"  
A bolt of lighting slammed into the ground a block ahead of him. Dust filled the air. InuYasha searched for the cloud. It was now just above the buildings, and there were two people in it. InuYasha swore out loud. "FUCK! That was real"  
He ran as fast as he could toward Kagome. A blast of lighting came down and knocked him on his face. He pushed him self up. Through the smoke of the destruction he caught site of Kagome. She saw him and ran towards him.

She never made it. The cloud was suddenly there, and when it left, Kagome was gone. InuYasha could smell her getting farther away. He swore louder and tore ass toward the bike. 


	19. High Voltage rock n Roll

InuYasha sprinted toward the bike. Fuck people figuring out he wasn't human. He got to the alley he had left the bike in. There wasn't a lot of gas in it, and he didn't know how long the chase would last.  
"Fuck!" He looked around frantically, there was the can of gas.. He stared toward it. As he moved, he noticed the Mustang from earlier was across the street. And someone one was running toward it screaming. Someone with keys.

You just don't pass up a chance to get involved in a high speed chase while driving a '71 'Stang.

InuYasha leapt straight over the Ford's hood and slammed a fist into the driver's head. Everyone was still running around in the chaos, no one seemed to notice. InuYasha grabbed the keys and sprinted back to the bike. He grabbed the revolvers and his jacket and tossed them on the passenger's seat and jumped in.  
InuYasha sped out of the town after the cloud. Thankfully the cloud traveled more or less along the road. InuYasha stayed just enough behind to keep it in view. The cloud moved down the deserted road for about five minutes. The wreckage of the cars he had seen last night came up ahead of InuYasha.  
"Fuck!" InuYasha veered off the road and onto the grass. The Ford bounced unevenly. InuYasha got back on the road, clutching his head.  
The cloud veered right. InuYasha kept on the road. He followed it with his eyes until it stopped at a group of buildings in the distance.  
A large bump alerted InuYasha to the fact he was no longer on the road. Blinding pain shot through his head. There was an extra bad bump and InuYasha had time to yell "SHIT!" before his head hit the steering wheel.

Kagome had no idea what had happened. One minute she was standing around, then things started exploding around her. She caught a glimpse of InuYasha through the smoke.  
Then an arm grabbed her, and the next thing she knew she was flying through the air. "What the hell?" She exclaimed looking around. She the first thing she noticed was that the ground was a long way below her. In shock, Kagome realized she was sitting on a could, which felt disturbingly like you would imagine it would. And she wasn't alone.  
The cloud was also occupied by two men. One of them was normal looking, except for the small detail of shooting lighting out of a rifle on his shoulder. The other was defidently not human, looking like a colorless lizard that somehow stood upright. Both had jewel shards in their heads.  
The non human looking one stared at her. Human looking one shoot a blast of lighting down and worked the rifle's lever. "What did you pick up?" He asked grinning. Kagome caught sight of a fang. "Just a lass for us." "Oh?" The human one turned to face Kagome. "Just a human?" "They taste the best.." Non human licked it's lips. Kagome didn't like that either way you took it. If it wouldn't of resulted in her plummeting to her death, she would of backed up.  
They flew away from the town. Kagome glanced back. She just happened to catch sight of a black car speeding out after her. Cautious not to alert her captors to it's presence, she watched it out of the corner of her eye.  
The car swerved violently to avoid some wreckage on the highway. The driver did not slow down on the grass and swerved back on the road at full speed. 'Only one person drives that bad and would follow me.' Kagome moved to block the car from the sight of the two demons and was reassured a little.  
The cloud turned toward a cluster of buildings. As they descended, Kagome risked a glance back. The car was stalled out on the side of the road. 'What the hell is he doing? Maybe it's not him, I mean since when does InuYasha drive?' Her future seemed a lot less certain at that moment.

The two demons dumped Kagome in a cell like room. The only window was barred. The floor was concrete. Kagome scrambled to her feet. "Who are you?" She cried. The human looking one slung his rifle over his shoulders and smiled cockily. "Spirited ain't ya? You aren't in the position to ask questions, but if you are that curious, my name is Hiten, and this" He swung the rifle off his shoulder and pointed to the lizard looking one, "Is my brother, Manten"  
"And what do you want with me?" "What did we say about questions lass?" Manten took a step forward. "Don't worry, your pretty head off. It'll take me a while to find all the ingredients for dinner." "Fuck off pal! I will not be dinner"  
Hiten laughed. "Damn this one has spirit. I may over look the fact that you're human and have some fun with you.." He smiled.  
"What... what do you mean?" Now Kagome was scared. "Oh, you know damn well what I mean." He started walking toward her. Kagome backed up. Her back hit the wall. "Scared, lass?" "Don't.." "What are you gonna do about it"  
Kagome thought fast. "Not me, what InuYasha will do." Hiten paused. "What's that?" "When InuYasha gets here, he'll kill the both of you for messing with me." "And who exactly is this InuYasha"  
'Well, I'm about to be either eaten or raped. I'm sure InuYasha will understand.' "When my love finds me, he'll destroy anyone who dared touch me." "Oh?" Hiten seemed interested. "Is that right? Is he strong?" "The strongest, he's killed more demons than I can count, and he won't think twice about killing the two of you." Hiten grinned in excitement. "No shit? And where is he now?" "Probably on his way here from town as we speak." "Hot damn! Manten mind the girl! I'm going to find this guy!" He yelled sprinting out of the room.  
'He's just like InuYasha. Except InuYasha doesn't kill people. We'll, innocent people. Actually, he was a bit more polite than InuYasha'  
'Well, that takes care of him. Now all I'm left with is Ugly. InuYasha, now's the time to show up. Where are you?'

"Oh fuck..." InuYasha came too. "I forgot why I hate these damn things.." He muttered straightening out. The buildings were still in sight. 'Well, only one thing to do now." He reached over to the passenger seat and grabbed hold of the pistol belt, ammo and his jacket.  
InuYasha threw his shit on the on hood and sat down. He slid the revolvers out of the holsters and grabbed the ammo. He lit up and started loading the SAAs. With both Peacemaker's loaded, he tried to figure out how to get the pistol belt on. He finally managed to get it to stay put, even if the holster on the right dipped lower than the left. He preferred his knife, but for the old man's sake he'd carry them with.  
InuYasha threw on his jacket and set out toward the buildings.

InuYasha wandered up to a gate in front of the buildings. The sky had darkened and a harsh wind blew. InuYasha took one last drag. He flicked the butt away. "Alright." He leapt over the gate.  
InuYasha landed three feet in front of a man with a hand gun. A sentry or something. InuYasha didn't care. A thrust of the knife and he went down. InuYasha headed for the first building. He stopped in front of it. He drew one of the revolvers and pulled back the hammer. InuYasha kicked the door open. Another henchman looked at him in surprise. InuYasha leveled the sights on his chest.

The gunshot was close. Kagome turned to look in that direction. So did Manten. "It appears you were telling the truth." Was all he said before leaving the room and locking her in. Kagome scrambled to the window.

The gun kicked slightly more than InuYasha expected. The man went down. InuYasha lazily pulled the hammer back again. There were footsteps from farther inside the building. InuYasha swore and took cover behind a nearby desk. A door to the left of the dead man opened. Someone wandered in. InuYasha shot him.  
Kagome watched Manten aim a sawed off coach gun at the building. There was a thunderous boom as a blast of lighting ripped the building apart.

Smoke and dust filled the air. There was a gleam of a metal in the black smoke that used to be a building. With a cry InuYasha sped out of the wreckage, knife in hand. He slammed into Manten. There was a flash of yellow light as the switch drew a line of blood on the demon's chest.  
Manten fell backward, InuYasha leapt off. The demon aimed the coach gun at InuYasha. The half demon leapt into the air as the lighting slammed into the building Kagome was in.

Kagome was thrown to the ground by the explosion. The whole world was filled with smoke now. Kagome stumbled out of what was left of the door. The scent of burning would and something else assaulted her nose. The world was shaking too much for her to walk right.  
She stumbled to the ground. In front of her lay an arm and pistol. She was unnerved by the sight, but picked up the gun anyway.  
There was the sound of something coming through the smoke ahead of her. The unmistakable figure of Manten was headed for her.  
Kagome scrambled to her feet quickly. The demon would see her any second now. Kagome brought up the gun. A gust of wind blew. The smoke shifted and Kagome was left staring at the lizard. Kagome pulled the trigger. The bullet bounced harmlessly off the demon's head. Kagome's eyes widened in fear. 'Oh God..' She fired again to the same effect.  
The demon smiled as he kept coming. Kagome dropped the gun. Manten was only feet away. Kagome closed her eyes and tensed up. "InuYasha.." She whispered. Something whistled through the smoke.

She opened her eyes. The summoned half demon was in front of her, grinning crazily as if he was having the time of his life and fully expected her to be too.  
His right arm was blocking the demon's swing. With out a word he jumped and spun at the same time, bringing his foot crashing into the demon.  
Manten went flying and InuYasha flew after him into the smoke. Arcs of lighting shot out toward the half demon. InuYasha twisted, avoiding the lighting. InuYasha punched the demon hard, sending him flying into the smoke. InuYasha lost track of him. The smell of burning wood and flesh was too thick to find the demon.  
InuYasha drew a revolver again. His ears twitched as searched for any sign of Manten. There was the crackling of wood, shifting of beams in ash. There was a different type of crackling. InuYasha turned. In the smoke, a blue light was gathering. The light in the air seemed to be sucked in toward it.  
With out thought, InuYasha fired right above it.

Lighting arced out in a circle from the glowing point, before it shot backwards. Manten was illuminated by the blue streaks of electricity coursing through his body. The harsh blue light revealed InuYasha's smile. With out a word he dropped the SAA back into the holster and headed for the girl.

Kagome jumped when InuYasha appeared behind her. "Well, that guy's taken care of." He said reaching down and picking up the gun Kagome has discarded. An old Walther PPK, James Bond's gun. He handed it to her. "Here, keep it with you from now on. Can't have ya running around unarmed." Kagome accepted it suspically, and looked for the safety before slipping it into a pocket.  
InuYasha chuckled to him self as he replayed the image of Kagome getting Lizard Lips right in the head twice. 'I'll be damned. Girl's got rhythm'  
"Nice car." "Thanks. Found it laying around. Abandoned prolly." "I saw the guy drive in with it last night." "The point is I saved you okay?" The pair drove off, leaving the charred remains of Manten for his brother to discover.

The demon stared at the blacked corpse. Rage built up inside him. His hand began to quake. He knew who. His sense of smell wasn't as good as some, but he knew the route of the word "Inu" and knew it smelt like a dog. He grabbed the shards out of his brother's head and swallowed them.  
Hiten's eyes glow red. The wind picked up. The sky darkened.

In the middle of no where, InuYasha slammed the car to a dead stop. They were in front of the destroyed cars. Kagome looked at the half demon. "What's wrong"  
The half demon's hair was standing on end. "Get out of the car." He said quietly, exiting the Ford.  
"There." He said, pointing toward a ditch on the side of the road. "Hide there." "InuYasha, what are you talking about?" "Hide dammit!" "What's going on!" InuYasha looked at her seriously. "You're young, and if you don't want to die young, fucking hide, right fucking now"  
With out a word Kagome back pedaled, turned and ducked into the ditch.  
InuYasha wandered into the middle of the still flaming wrecks. In the distance he could hear the church bells toll for those who died in the attack earlier.  
The sky had grown pitch black. The wind blew with the force of a hurricane. InuYasha was barely able to stand up, even with the increased protection of the wrecks.  
The howling wind died instantly. In the silence, InuYasha growled. White lighting spilt the night silently. The sky seemed to glow a blood red behind the clouds.

InuYasha barely dodged the first blast of lighting. He landed and spun to face Hiten. The demon's eyes glowed in rage. InuYasha reached for his knife. He'd stick to what he knew best for this.  
The demon's face twisted in anger. "HALF DEMON! My brother was killed by A HALF DEMON!" He roared, the last word dragged out as he rushed InuYasha.  
The demon slammed into InuYasha and pushed him to the ground. InuYasha was left on his back, bracing the demon's rifle with his hands and staring into those red eyes as Hiten tried to crush him.  
"That's right.." InuYasha smirked. "Half demon. Scum of the Earth. And Ugly didn't even put up a fight." The rifle pushed down harder on InuYasha.  
The half demon twisted the rifle, knocking the demon off him. InuYasha jumped to his feet. Another blast of lighting shot by him, hitting a burning wreck. What was left of the car was thrown into the air.  
The demon rushed InuYasha again. This time the half demon was ready and side stepped, dragging the knife across Hiten's side. The demon stopped and turned, seeming to ignore the blood running down his side. In town, the bells continued to toll. Hiten smirked. "Satan's calling for you.. I can hear him." He taunted. "He's been calling for me a long time, he can wait." "Not for long"  
The wind returned. It started to pour. InuYasha spat. "So you can make it rain. I'll let you know when I start drowning"  
Hiten raised the rifle again. InuYasha leapt to the side. The lighting shot out toward him. This time the electricity flowed through the rain. InuYasha screamed as the lighting hit him. He vaguely smelt smoke as he was propelled through the air. InuYasha stood up panting. His hair stood on end. Another blast of lighting followed, InuYasha barely managed to dodge the main blast, but it still got him.  
Once again Hiten fired and once more InuYasha caught some of the blast. The half demon knew he had to do something soon.  
Hiten charged the rifle, and InuYasha saw his chance. In the split second where the demon couldn't fire, InuYasha whipped the switch blade into the rifle's barrel.  
Lighting shot from the hole in the barrel. Hiten yelled as the whole rifle was encased in lightning. The demon tossed the rifle away.  
Into the ditch where Kagome was hiding.

There was a slightly larger burst of lightning when the rifle disappeared into the ditch. "Fuck.." InuYasha managed. The half demon sprinted toward Kagome. Hiten was faster though.  
"What do we have here?" The demon said, looking down at the stunned and only slightly shocked human. Kagome jumped back in shock. The demon reached for her throat.  
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" InuYasha roared, punching the demon as hard as he could. Hiten flew back, sliding along the ground.  
Kagome looked up at the half demon. His face was charred and dirty. Blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth. His eyes were wild. Hiten got to his feet. InuYasha made sure to stay between the demon and Kagome. "Fool." The demon muttered. "Letting your lover distract you." InuYasha was in no mood to correct him.  
The half demon wiped some blood from his mouth. He was running low on options. He didn't have his knife, and he doubted a fist fight would end well for him. His hand reached for a gun.  
Too late. Hiten rushed him and the fight was back on. InuYasha ducked a right hand only to get hit in the gut by the demon's left.  
The rain came down harder. The wind shrieked. InuYasha brought his arm down, trapping the demon's arm. The half demon smashed an elbow into Hiten's face.  
As the demon went down, he brought his foot up into InuYasha's jaw. The half demon tasted more blood. InuYasha stumbled back as Hiten leapt into the air and back on his feet. InuYasha attacked first this time. He caught Hiten with a right to the jaw. The demon slugged back. InuYasha balled up his left and brought it slamming to the demon's gut, and immediately followed his another right hook.  
Hiten collapsed to the ground. InuYasha fell on top of the demon and began pummeling him. Hiten shoved him off and rolled to his feet. InuYasha pushed him self up to find the demon between him self and Kagome.  
The two demons stared at each other for a split second. Then Hiten turned and ran toward the human. InuYasha instinctively drew a Peacemaker and rushed after him, thumbing the hammer back as he ran.  
Hiten reached to his belt and drew a knife as he closed in on Kagome. InuYasha pushed his legs to move faster.  
The demon reached Kagome. He raised the knife. InuYasha slammed into the demon. He stumbled, grabbing the demon's collar as he fell. InuYasha landed on his back. Hiten raised the knife and prepared to strike. Someone yelled. A gun shot rang out.

Hiten's head snapped back. The demon stared forward. Then he slumped to the side, dead, a small hole in his forehead. InuYasha shoved the demon's body off him. The half demon lay panting, revolver resting on his chest.

The storm faded away. The wind and rain died away and the sun crept out. InuYasha opened his eyes when he felt the sun on his face. It was bright, too bright to see. He was looking directly into the eyes of the sun. For a moment he lied on his back and stared at the sky he knew was there. 'Sky of glory and mercy. Sky of love, sky of fullness, sky of blessed life'  
He realized there was something in front of him. He concentrated on it and it turned into a hand. InuYasha looked slightly beyond that and saw Kagome sliming down at him. He reached up, took her hand and rose up.

They decided to walk back into town. The rain had formed puddles on the concrete. Bells were ringing. No longer for the dead, but to call the living to church. The two companions stopped at the bike to let InuYasha pour in the rest of the gas. "So, still wanna check out the city?" InuYasha asked. "Yeah." "Alright, let's go." As InuYasha pulled out of the alley way, Kagome glanced toward where InuYasha had draped his jacket that morning. The body of the Telecaster stuck out from under a collapsed cardboard box. Kagome smiled.  
The way to the city took them along the coast. As Kagome stared out to sea, she leaned against the half demon's back. "So, why exactly did he call you my lover?" "Er.. well.. long story.." 


End file.
